DURBAN - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture was hauled over the coals to answer for R2 million spent per month on libraries that have not opened.
DA MPL and spokesperson on Arts and Culture, Bradley Singh, said he had uncovered wasteful expenditure with the revelation that a staggering R2m was being spent monthly on security at eight modular libraries in the province, which are not yet open to the public.
According to Singh, these libraries are KwaNzimakwe, Nibela, Kwankosi Khumalo, Kwakhetha, Mpembeni, Ntunjambili, Denny Dalton and Mfekayo.
Singh said that Arts and Culture MEC Hlengiwe Mavimbela, and her head of department stated in a reply to parliamentary questions by the DA that the libraries would be fully operational by the end of July 2021.
“Sadly, despite eight months having passed since then, nothing has happened, with electricity and water not even connected yet.”
Department spokesperson Phathisa Mfuyo said Singh was well aware that it was not the department’s fault that the libraries had not yet opened.
She said it was not the department’s job to install water and lights in the libraries – and was the job of the municipalities in which the libraries were situated.
Mfuyo said the department could not leave the infrastructure unattended, which is why it had to provide security.
“Municipalities are still connecting the water and electricity supplies. The department was notified that there was a backlog by Eskom.”
Singh said the DA could see no logical explanation as to why these libraries were not yet in use, and that they remained incomplete despite funds having been transferred from the Treasury and paid to contractors, and that – ultimately – it was the communities that were suffering due to a lack of access to such facilities.
“Had the department hired a consultant to manage the infrastructure – and paid more than R8m for services rendered – one would assume that this costly expertise would have expedited the completion of projects,” said Singh.
He added that what was astonishing was that the modular library at Franklin, which began construction much later, was already operational. This, without the so-called expertise of an infrastructure consultant.
Singh added that the DA believed that the time had come for all departments’ audit reports to be made public.
“The DA refuses to stand by and watch millions of rand being unnecessarily wasted.
“The department needs to be held accountable for its ongoing fraudulent activities,” he said.
Daily News