The bill for the controversial World Festival of Youth and Students topped R100-million, organisers have revealed.
Municipalities, provinces and government departments handed over funding in addition to the National Lotteries Board’s controversial R40m donation.
The revelation comes in the wake of the government appealing for funds to help victims of the recent floods which hit several provinces and led to 33 municipalities being declared disaster areas.
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), which organised the nine-day December event held in Pretoria, said yesterday it was in talks with donors who still owed R17m.
The agency owed R7.2m to service providers, including “a couple of hotels”, NYDA chief executive Steven Ngobeni told reporters in Midrand.
A report on the festival, which made headlines after delegates were seen playing kissing games following delays and cancellations of parts of the programme, was submitted by the agency to donors yesterday, but not made public.
It gave details of festival spending, including a bill of almost R30m for catering.
This works out to around R222 per delegate per day for meals that included polony, bread and an apple for breakfast, and fish and chips, or a chicken leg and thigh with pap for other meals.
Many delegates ended up buying food at fast food stalls at the venue after complaining that food served was substandard, or served late.
Ngobeni said caterers who withdrew in the early days of the festival were paid up to the point of their departure. He gave the assurance that the NYDA had not paid twice for any services.
Other costs included:
- R24.5m for travel and accommodation for up to 15 000 delegates - 7 000 from abroad and 8 000 from South Africa, including “day delegates”;
- R14m for “event management and operational costs”;
- R3.6m for translation services in three languages, including English;
- R8.3m for branding;
- R1m for advertising;
- R9.5m for entertainment and artists;
- R5.6m for an “outreach programme for international delegates”;
- R3.4m to pay 1 200 festival “volunteers”.
NYDA yesterday could not provide a list of all service providers, many hired at short notice, but said they were listed in the financial report and correct procurement procedures had been followed.
Ngobeni said NYDA had received, in its own account, R100 000 245.42 to fund the event. Of this, R29m came from Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane; R40m from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, of which R16m is still outstanding; R3m from the Department of Arts and Culture; R1.8m from the Department of Communications; R5,5m from provinces; R3,2m from registration fees; as well as money from various municipalities, which Ngobeni would not name.
The agency also received “other donations and payments”, which are detailed in the financial report submitted to Chabane yesterday and to come before MPs in Parliament next week.
Asked whether the fact that the agency had spent the same amount as it envisaged to raise meant it had not properly budgeted for the conference, Ngobeni insisted this had been done and correct procedures followed.
None of the NYDA’s own budget of nearly R500m had been used on the festival, which had the theme: “Let’s defeat imperialism for a world of peace, solidarity and social transformation.”
NYDA chairman Andile Lungisa said the agency wanted “to dispel the opportunistic notion that the funds spent on the festival were a complete waste and could have been rather spent elsewhere”.
He said the money had united youth from various countries “to deliberate on critical issues and to network”.
Delegates from Egypt and Tunisia who had attended had led “from the front” in anti-government protests in their own countries, while the delegation from Southern Sudan had “led a spirited campaign” in the recent referendum that saw a majority of citizens vote to secede from the north and become a separate country.
“The world we live in now is different than 2010” because of the youth festival, Lungisa claimed. “It is a new world. The outlook has changed.”
He could not, however, answer repeated questions as to how many delegates from each of these countries had attended the festival, saying this was contained in paperwork that his colleague, Ngobeni, said would be difficult to process immediately.
However, Lungisa said the 7 000 delegates from 126 countries included 242 from Cuba, 1 500 from Zimbabwe, 600 from Namibia, 400 from India, and 150 from Morocco. About half of the expected 30 000 delegates attended the festival.
Asked to name the 15 “heads of state” said to have attended, Lungisa and Ngobeni said various ministers involved in youth affairs had been there.
They did not name any heads of state.
Lungisa lamented “negative” local coverage of the festival, which made headlines because of “kissing games”.
Delegates complained about transport and accommodation problems, while billed speakers – including ANC veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale failed to arrive, apparently because proper arrangements had not been made.
Opposition parties slammed the festival spending, with DA Youth leader Makashule Gana saying there were more important things to spend the money on, such as providing pupils with school desks.
Gana reiterated a call on President Jacob Zuma to dismiss the NYDA board.
FF Plus Youth spokesman Wouter Wessels said his party had already asked the Public Protector to investigate the festival spending. - Political Bureau