Johannesburg - The cash-strapped IEC has splurged R1.5 million on a four-day workshop at a five-star hotel, despite the government’s repeated calls on public officials to heed its austerity measures and cut waste and extravagance.
The “strategic workshop”, which started on Monday last week and ended last Thursday, was held at Africa Pride Mount Grace Country House and Spa, a five-star hotel nestled in the Magaliesberg mountains in North West.
Prices for cheapest rooms are between R2 300 to more than R5 000.
About 120 delegates from the Electoral Commission of SA offices countrywide attended the workshop, and those from far away provinces had to take flights to Joburg before transiting to North West.
The commission had to pay for the rental cars for delegates from the airport to Mount Grace, while those who drove to the venue using their own vehicles had to claim for mileage.
The commission spent R1.2m booking rooms for the delegates alone, according to a highly placed source within the IEC.
However, some staff members were not happy about the “excess” spending, saying this was ill-advised in light of the financial difficulties the commission is currently facing.
IEC chief executive Mosotho Moepya allegedly tried to cancel the conference three days before it could start due to the high costs involved, but the hotel refused.
The source said although the workshop was important, the IEC could have considered alternative cost-cutting measures.
“The timing, the venue and the number of people at the five-star hotel was a bad idea. This excess spending is not useful this time. Can you justify this expenditure in the current economic climate?” asked the source, who was among the delegates who attended the workshop.
The IEC is apparently going through financial difficulties after it spent R250m that had not been planned for in its 2016 municipal elections, after the Constitutional Court ruling that ordered that it must provide addresses for registered voters.
Sources said there wasn’t much money left in the IEC’s bank account last week and that the bulk of what was remaining was used to pay the employees’ November salaries.
“After creditors and phone bills had been paid, the commission would be left with not much in the bank,” said another source. Spokesperson for the IEC Marco Granelli confirmed that R1.5m was spent on the luxury hotel but said they chose the venue because they had negotiated a package deal.
He said the rates they paid were in line with Treasury regulations and IEC policies. Granelli said hosting the workshop was important in laying the foundation for the work leading up to the 2019 elections.
He denied that Moepya had tried to cancel the workshop, saying he had only wanted to postpone it due to cash-flow problems.
“Unfortunately, a postponement was not possible without considering cost implicationsm including a 100 percent cancellation fee. “The CEO therefore decided that the workshop should proceed as scheduled to avoid fruitless expenditure,” he said.
The extravagance flies in the face of the government’s austerity measures. In his Budget speech this year, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan reiterated his call on government officials to heed his austerity measures and to cut spending on expensive cars, overseas travel, government credit cards, hotels and entertainment.
Spokesperson for the Treasury Yolisa Tyantsi said public officials should always endeavour towards cost cutting.
“However, it is impossible for the Treasury at all times to detect wasteful expenditure. The system is built such that accounting officers should exercise their responsibility and should thus be accountable for all their actions and inactions,” she pointed out.
She added that cost-containment guidelines had been sent out to all public service entities and should be adhered to.
The Star