Mbete leaves businesses in lurch with unpaid bill‚ DA charges

The Democratic Alliance says it has been reliably informed that none of the service providers that worked on The Speaker’s Ball‚ a post-SONA event hosted by the Speaker of the National Assembly‚ Baleka Mbete‚ have been paid in full.

Some service providers have not received any payment for the event which was held at a five-star hotel in Camps Bay on February‚ DA chief whip John Steenhuisen charged on Sunday.

He said the DA would be reporting the matter to Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests as the party contended that Mbete had brought the Office of the Speaker into disrepute.

“More than a month after the event‚ several small businesses are still owed payments ranging from R70‚453 for flowers and décor to R137‚444 for equipment hire to R206‚482 for catering and staffing‚” Steenhuisen stated.

It is understood that Western Cape service providers were engaged by a Johannesburg-based events company which‚ in turn‚ was engaged by yet another Johannesburg-based events company purporting to be acting on behalf of Baleka Mbete and Nkuli Kgositsile‚ both of whom were personally involved in planning the event‚ Steenhuisen said.

“We are led to believe that legal action is now pending against Mbete‚” he added.

He said the DA had raised questions over The Speaker’s Ball on February 7‚ seeking clarity over who was paying for the lavish event and whether or not Parliament had contributed or committed any funds‚ in disregard of Treasury’s cost-cutting measures. Media conjecture prompted ANC spokesperson‚ Zizi Kodwa‚ to state explicitly that it was not a party event.

“It is especially concerning that the event was organised and held in the name of the Speaker‚ who is indeed the representative of Parliament. Tarnishing the name of the Speaker is no different to tarnishing the institution itself.

“The DA is appalled that Mbete’s failure to pay her accounts has placed businesses in distress. This ugly affair is symptomatic of a self-indulgent‚ opulent ANC leadership that holds honest‚ hard-working South Africans in contempt.

“Mbete must settle her dues immediately‚ failing which she should be called to account to Parliament on why she has disgraced the Office of the Speaker and‚ by extension‚ the Legislature‚” Steenhuisen said.