LETTER: DA Councillor writes about GTM spending over R1 million on music awards at expense of service delivery

Councillor Mahlatswa Lebeus Ramalepe – DA Councillor at the Greater Tzaneen Municipality writes:

The DA has written to the Speaker of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, Cllr. Sanie Tiva, to demand that council rescind a resolution of financial sponsorship for the Xitsonga Music Awards.

The report on the municipality’s sponsorship of the music awards was amongst the documents presented to the council for noting during a sitting on the 26th of January 2023. It indicates that the municipality will sponsor the awards to the tune of R1.234 million annually for three years under the arts and culture vote. The DA rejected the report, indicating that the money should rather be used to prioritise service delivery and improve infrastructure for residents in the municipality. The report also indicates that the funds for the festival were sourced through virements identified in all departments.

It is unacceptable that funds were transferred from other municipal departments to fund this festival. The ANC-led council has let the people down by putting entertainment ahead of providing services when the municipality has far more urgent problems. The money used to sponsor the awards could have been used to procure TLB graders to assist with the terrible roads in outlying wards, fix street lights, drill boreholes, buy water tankers, or buy a refuse collection truck.

We have also recommended that the music awards task team that has been set up to oversee the planning and execution of the awards start looking for new methods to finance the awards through outside sponsorship rather than by using money intended for basic services. The DA is committed to ensuring that the Greater Tzaneen Municipality prioritises its obligation to provide adequate basic services to residents. We will continue to play an active oversight role and monitor this issue until it is resolved.