Damning allegation by opposition parties accusing the eThekwini Municipality of footing the bill of millions of rands for an ANC Women’s League conference hosted at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) in August have been denied by the municipality which described the allegations as “devoid of truth or facts”.
In early October the media reported that ActionSA’s provincial chairperson, Zwakele Mncwango, had asked for an investigation into what he called the “irregular use of public funds to pay for ANC party activities”.
He claimed that over R5 million had been forked out to pay for the ANCWL elective conference at the Durban ICC from August 4 to 8. He said they were aware of the final invoice from the ICC amounting to R4 794 824,21, which was submitted to the municipality. ActionSA appealed to the head of the city’s Integrity and Investigation Unit, Thulani Ntobela, to investigate further. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) also raised concerns about the finances of the event.
Yesterday the municipality issued a statement to set the record straight. eThekwini Municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has challenged the opposition parties to produce proof to support these “malicious and unfounded” allegations which he described as a desperate attempt to grab headlines.
“The municipality does not get involved in the arrangement of logistics and venue hire bookings on behalf of political parties. It is deeply concerning when councillors from opposition parties who are public representatives and should be leading with honesty and integrity deliberately distort information and peddle propaganda without any shred of evidence. Public representatives should know better than to peddle gossip,” said Mr Kaunda.
Although the Durban ICC is a municipal entity, it has its own management and processes pertaining to venue hire for all types of events, Mr Kaunda said, adding that it had stringent governance processes “which we are very proud of”.
“The Durban ICC upholds all principles of corporate governance, diligent oversight and efficient financial management and has achieved eight clean audit opinions from the Auditor-General.
“Impressively, in the final quarter (April to June), the Durban ICC hosted 129 events generating R66.3 million. Moreover, in the past fiscal, the Durban ICC contributed R5.7 billion to the Gross Domestic Product and created 11 103 jobs,” said Mr Kaunda.
