Johannesburg - The commission of inquiry into the deaths of eight applicants for traffic officer jobs is expected to cost about R14.2-million, the Sunday Times reports.
“An additional R5.7-million will be required for the commission to complete its work,” Ndabezinhle Sibiya, spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office, told the newspaper.
A total of R5.5-million was originally budgeted for the commission in February, but this steadily increased to the estimated overall cost of R14.2-million.
The commission is probing the deaths of eight people who took part in a four kilometre run at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg in December last year. This formed part of a fitness test for job applicants. More than 40 000 people qualified to apply for 90 advertised Road Traffic Inspectorate trainee posts. Of these, 20 000 applicants attended the test on December 27 and a similar number on December 28.
The Sunday Times reported that providing a meal of curry and rice and cooldrinks for the approximately 50 people attending the commission costs R494 962.
Other expenses include R424 164 for audiovisual services and R230 000 for travel costs.
The commission's deadline has been extended from March 2014 to August 2014. - Sapa