In total, R870 000 was spent in three days.
The office of the Public Protector has confirmed that an investigation into Mkhondo mayor Mthokozisi Simelane and other councilors who allegedly splurged public money on Durban July with spouses and family members has been launched.
R200 000 was spent on transport and R670 000 on accommodation on the weekend of Durban July. That was allegedly done to coincide with the Durban fun so that the municipality could fully fund the trip, hotel accommodation, meals and transport as an official expense.
Simelane took 65 people with him to attend what they said was a “Strategic Planning Workshop” from 29 June – 1 July 2022.
Some number of these people were municipal officials and others were allegedly their family members and spouses.
The Public Protector will look at why Simelane chose to hold a municipal workshop in Durban, whether the trip was authorized and if this didn’t amount to abuse of taxpayers money.
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DA councilor Irene Brussow lodged the complaint with the office of the Public Protector in the week after the Durban fun weekend after Simelane’s name and photos of him posing with expensive alcohol trended online.
The office has now responded to the DA request to probe the Mkhondo municipality because “this constitutes fruitless and wasteful expenditure”.
“This is nothing but fruitless and wasteful expenditure taking into consideration that such a workshop could have been held at the local council chambers at a far lower expense,” Brussow said.
She added they will submit information to investigators “that points to some councillors taking their family members and spouses on this joyride at the expense of the taxpayer”.
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Simelane became mayor after ANC factions could not agree on their own candidate – and he was voted in.
Simelane said the workshop ended on 1 July Friday and on Saturday he chose to celebrate his birthday in uMfolozi, not Durban – and those are the pictures that people claim are municipal spending at Durban July.
“Not even a cent of the municipal money was spent at the birthday on Saturday,” he insisted.
(edited by ZK)
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