Durban - The ANC in the Msunduzi Municipality has been criticised for wanting the council to fork out R371 312 for the funeral expenses of one of its councillors when municipalities have been urged by the government to tighten their belts.
However council Speaker Babu Baijoo said on Monday that the recess committee had asked that the funeral service provider itemise how the figure was calculated, because it believed it had been inflated.
Baijoo emphasised that the item on the agenda, which came before the committee last week, had been stood down and no decision on it had been taken.
Opposition parties lambasted the ruling party and asked how it made its way on to the agenda in the first place.
The DA's mayoral candidate Mergan Chetty, said it was ridiculous to ask the municipality to pay the high amount for the funeral of ANC councillor Thandi Ndlovu who died in June of illness. He also questioned how it could cost so much.
He accused the ANC of being "creative" with the figure.
"The report was compiled by the Speaker's office. How was it allowed to go before exco if the ANC thought it was too high in the first place? It's because they thought they would get the money."
He accused the party of inflating the amount to "abuse council coffers for electioneering".
Chetty added that the residents of Ndlovu's ward continued to suffer because of the lack of service provision.
IFP member Dolo Zondi agreed that the amount was too high. "What kind of funeral was that... is that a king's funeral?" he asked.
Zondi said it seemed as if public funds were being used for other agendas.
Baijoo said every councillor was entitled to a funeral paid for by the council, irrespective of what party the person had belonged to. He said it had to be taken into account that Zulu funerals were a community event, and that different cultures had to be respected.
"When AS Chetty (a political activist who had also been a deputy mayor) died, we spent R500 000 for his funeral and no one complained... and that was a long time ago... now the DA is complaining."
He added that the different parties present during the meeting had all agreed the bill should be sent back to the service provider.
Ndlovu's husband declined to answer any questions on the issue.
The report that came before the committee had been compiled by Blessing Dlamini from the Speaker's office.
In it he said that in January the executive committee had resolved to recommend to the council that the deputy manager of corporate services develop a policy that would cover the funeral expenses of all councillors who died in office, irrespective of their political affiliations.
The manager had done so, but the policy had yet to be approved by the council.
The request came a few months after Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and President Jacob Zuma both called for tighter austerity measures from government departments. Zuma indicated that the government would curtail overseas trips, spending on catering, conferences and lavish dinners.
Ndlovu was known in the ward in which she served in Copesville, and residents were not fond of her.
They were especially annoyed that she had been nominated again to stand in Wednesday's local government elections.
Municipal spokeswoman Nqobile Madonda said she could not comment on the funeral costs, as the matter had been stood down.
The Mercury