Cruise conference slammed

DESPITE the finance minister’s call for government and municipalities to be more stringent during the tough economic climate, eThekwini Municipality has plans to send a group of councillors and officials on a three-day cruise to the Portuguese Islands on the MSC Sinfonia.

Dubbed a Cruise Conference, the municipality claims the trip is necessary as part of its focus on growing cruise tourism which will boost visitor numbers and spend and will facilitate enterprise development and job creation.

The cruise will take place between 4 and 7 March, and is intended to bring together key stakeholders in the industry together with a view to stimulate growth in what has already proven to be an important segment of the tourism in Durban.

The conference has been slammed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), who announced it would boycott the trip. Ward 33 councillor, Nicole Graham, said while the DA understood the need to focus on the maritime industry in Durban, this could easily be done without a ‘free holiday’. “The DA is shocked by the decision to spend almost R200 000 to send councillors on a cruise, thinly veiled as a ‘summit’. This city is in a state of absolute dysfunction. This money could and should be used to address that. If any councillor wants to go on a cruise, they should use the salary they earn and pay for it themselves. Our leadership has clearly indicated that no DA councillor will be going near a cruise ship paid for by ratepayers, and we as councillors completely support this decision,” she said.

The cruise also earned the ire of Save Our Berea, with Kevin Dunkley saying the move by the City showed nothing but contempt for the people of Durban.

“That the issue is important to this city is not disputed but that we, the ratepayers, should foot the bill, is a disgrace. We believe the bill, estimated at R160 000, is an under-estimate of the final cost. Go to the MSC Cruise website, do your own sums and then add all the extras. Of course the City spokesperson, Tozi Mthethwa says that due consideration of the cost was taken and a cost comparison done, and goes on to say it should be noted that the cost per person is in comparison to the total cost of municipal representatives travelling to Johannesburg to attend a conference for the day. What nonsense! Not for one moment do we believe that a one-day seminar in Johannesburg costs the same, ” said Dunkley.

He said the decision which followed the announcement in Parliament by finance minister, Pravin Gordhan of austerity measures, made it even more unpalatable.

“Were city officials not listening? It is not the amount of money that angers us, after all the council has a long record of mismanagement and squandering far larger amounts, rather it is the extravagant symbolic nature of this decision. A large number of our citizens live in squalid informal housing and have no work. We challenge the deputy mayor, Novuzo Shabalala, Speaker, Logie Naidoo and City spokesperson, Tozi Mthethwa, to visit our city’s informal settlements and justify to the people living there in dire poverty, that this decision has merit,” he said.

He said while SOB applauds any meeting that enhances economic opportunity for the people of the city, he believes the justification given by the City “spin doctor” is spurious.

“We believe this is a cynical decision, and that everybody involved should hang their heads in shame. We don’t expect that to happen, as this City Council lost its concern for the citizens a long time ago. And so to the privileged few going on this cruise, we say, while you lounge on a sun bed, sipping cocktails and premium whisky, while you gaze over the azure ocean, that you spare a thought for the poor who lost everything during last Friday’s storm. At least, have the decency to do that,” said Dunkley.