Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was housing minister when the housing department approved a R22.5-million theatre production - but she is not liable for the overspending.Sisulu 'not required to explain production's cost'
Her spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, yesterday passed the buck to accounting officers, saying Sisulu would not comment on the show, A re Ageng Mzansi (Let's build South Africa).
The cost of the show led to the department of human settlements exceeding its marketing budget by 195%.
A reply to a question about the play posed in Parliament yesterday led to the revelation that R22.6-million had been spent on 58 performances of the show.
Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale yesterday canned the project, to which R4.4m was allocated in this year's budget.
But Mabaya said: "We are not going to comment because there is a communications department within human settlements that deals with such issues.
"I even think that the amount is incorrect. It may have cost R5-million. In our view, how can a minister be liable for overspending when there is a chief finance officer and accounting officer in the communication department who deal with this? The matter must go back to the human settlements department."
The DA is demanding that the auditor-general and public protector investigate the matter.
DA spokesman Butch Steyn said: "We need to identify who is responsible for sanctioning it. The former minister must have known about this expenditure. An investigation by the AG urgently needs to take place.
"That money could have been used to build 420 houses, which are really needed in the country. While the department's total budget for all marketing and advertising was R20.3-million last year, it ended up spending a total of 60-million.
"It is simply inconceivable to think that any government department would see it fit to spend such a huge amount of money on a theatre production."
Human Settlements spokesman Chris Vick said the department, under Tokyo Sexwale's watch, had stopped the production because it focused more on "housing than on human settlements".
Steyn said Sexwale could not be held accountable: "It wasn't during his time. I think that all he can do to redeem the matter is to make sure that it never happens again. I am sending him a letter out of courtesy to tell him that I am asking the AG to investigate the overexpenditure."
- Times Live
The cost of the show led to the department of human settlements exceeding its marketing budget by 195%.
A reply to a question about the play posed in Parliament yesterday led to the revelation that R22.6-million had been spent on 58 performances of the show.
Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale yesterday canned the project, to which R4.4m was allocated in this year's budget.
But Mabaya said: "We are not going to comment because there is a communications department within human settlements that deals with such issues.
"I even think that the amount is incorrect. It may have cost R5-million. In our view, how can a minister be liable for overspending when there is a chief finance officer and accounting officer in the communication department who deal with this? The matter must go back to the human settlements department."
The DA is demanding that the auditor-general and public protector investigate the matter.
DA spokesman Butch Steyn said: "We need to identify who is responsible for sanctioning it. The former minister must have known about this expenditure. An investigation by the AG urgently needs to take place.
"That money could have been used to build 420 houses, which are really needed in the country. While the department's total budget for all marketing and advertising was R20.3-million last year, it ended up spending a total of 60-million.
"It is simply inconceivable to think that any government department would see it fit to spend such a huge amount of money on a theatre production."
Human Settlements spokesman Chris Vick said the department, under Tokyo Sexwale's watch, had stopped the production because it focused more on "housing than on human settlements".
Steyn said Sexwale could not be held accountable: "It wasn't during his time. I think that all he can do to redeem the matter is to make sure that it never happens again. I am sending him a letter out of courtesy to tell him that I am asking the AG to investigate the overexpenditure."
- Times Live
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