Johannesburg - A fight has broken out between opposition parties and the ANC in the Mahikeng Municipality over excessive spending on Nando’s meals.
The “black people” of Mahikeng – who volunteered to clean their town for free – deserved to be fed Nando’s for their efforts, the ANC claimed.
This was in response to DA objections to the spending of more than R130 000 on Nando’s meals over 35 days.
Mahikeng’s member of the mayoral committee on communication and marketing, Pontsho Tabane, said the DA’s figures were wrong and that the municipality had spent only R45 000 to feed 2 300 people who volunteered to clean the town over 10 days.
He was responding to a DA announcement that between March 15 and April 18 this year, the municipality had squandered R132 585 of council money on Nando’s.
DA North West leader Chris Hattingh said the information surfaced during a discussion at Mahikeng’s municipal public accounts committee (MPAC). DA Mahikeng leader Jacqueline Theologo said the ANC wanted the council to approve the Nando’s expenditure, but opposition parties rejected it.
“The ANC wanted us to condone the amounts spent but we (opposition parties) rejected. It was then referred to the MPAC for investigation. The matter is still before MPAC,” Theologo said.
Hattingh added: “I have flagged it with the Auditor-General (AG), who conceded that it was a serious concern. The council is not able to provide any documentation for this expenditure, nor is it able to provide a reason for purchasing such large quantities of Nando’s in such a short period of time.
“Since there is no documentation of this expenditure, the AG is unfortunately also not able to determine who is responsible for these purchases.
“This is without doubt the most excessive and pointless instance of fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the North West province’s history,” Hattingh said.
“The money should rather be spent on delivering services like water, electricity, housing and roads to make life better for the people of Mahikeng.
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Tabane said only R45 000 was spent at Nando’s, and this had come from the municipality’s entertainment budget.
“We had to rope in 2 300 volunteers to assist in restoring the glory of the city.
“On humanitarian grounds, after these volunteers agreed to provide their services for free, the municipality provided them with food,” Tabane said.
He said the DA was objecting because its members “are white and rich and they treat black people with disdain”.
The Star