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Cape Town – Opposition parties raised questions after the city said it had spent more than 61.8 million rands on covid-19’s general emergency acquisition.
According to the city, the money is spent on shelters, food, mattresses, water and funerals.
The party’s intelligent general secretary, Brett Herron, said that “the Strandfontein camp () is a completely mis-site solution to provide shelter for the homeless.”So, if (the city) say they spent 61 million rands on homeless people, then 53 million rand spent on the camp,” he said.
“This is monetary recklessness, because surely there is nothing to show.The homeless refused to stay there and those who visited him condemned it as a flagrant violation of human rights.”
Herron said he referred the expenses to the Special Investigation Unit and the Auditor-General for investigation.
The city said another 72.8 million rand had been spent on non-public protective devices to ensure the continuity of critical staff as well as protectors.
He said that recruitment would be undertaken in an incredibly urgent way in reaction to the pandemic.
“This government doesn’t have a decent record. If the city plans to spend another 72 million rand on responses for homeless people, it deserves to interact with a wide variety of experts and organizations and put into effect responses that have an effect on and sustain.Otherwise, they will simply waste more money, ” said Herron.
The leader of the ANC caucus, Xolani Sotashe, said there is an urgent investigation into spending.
“A full investigation will have to be sanctioned through the public forum on this matter.We don’t just have to worry about the amounts and businesses that have been hired through City Hall,” he said.
Last month, the city was criticized for spending 52 million rands on Strandfontein’s site for the homeless, which had only been around for six weeks.
A company called Downings Marquee Rentals won the contract for Strandfontein’s site.A total of 43 million rands were spent renting tents during the period.The company’s leading chief operating officer, Gerald Steyn, told Cape Argus: “We verify that we have provided Cape Town with respect to Strandfontein’s homeless site.We deny that our organization was concerned about any crime and would appreciate an impartial investigation.”
Finance member and Deputy Mayor of Mayco, Ian Neilson, said: “The city has acted in a responsible and transparent manner to ensure that those budgets are spent and in accordance with national treasury rules and all legislation governing spending on public finances in South Africa.
“It is well documented that key emergency and fitness interventions in Cape Town through the city and the Western Cape government have stood out about South Africa’s comparative cities,” he said.
“As a city and province, we have not only controlled a devastating uptick in infection; we have implemented interventions in a transparent and responsible manner.”
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