Opposition parties in eThekwini say the municipality’s move to spend R22m on two giant statues of struggle icons Oliver Tambo and former president Nelson Mandela was an insult to taxpayers considering the city’s dire state.
This comes after eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda confirmed the arrival of the two statues on Thursday.
Kaunda said the project started in 2017 when the council took a resolution to transform the city hall precinct by having two statues along the Church Walk.
However, the delivery of the statues was affected by the outbreak of Covid-19.
Kaunda defended the price, saying it was the cheapest figure compared with others who wanted almost the same price for only one statue.
Reacting to the confirmation, IFP’s Mdu Nkosi said the city’s economy was unstable and any expenditure had to be of vital importance.
He said the party opposed the project as they believed it was unfair to the taxpayers and that there was no need for them to be made outside the country.
"So in South Africa or in Africa as a whole, we do not have anyone that makes statues, which [is] why they saw it fit to go to another continent? There was so much spent, including the transportation of these two statues. It's not that we don't respect these leaders [Tambo and Mandela], but we are against such spending while we are in such a dire economic state.
"For R22m, how many houses you can build? How many infrastructures you can repair with that amount? In the city, we have serious issues of infrastructure that has collapsed over the years, which is affecting the economy and the tourism industry," said Nkosi.
The city came under heavy criticism when former mayor Zandile Gumede announced it was spending R20m to honour the freedom fighters in 2019.
When the news broke, the public questioned whether the city could not have better spent its money to speed up service delivery.
It was initially reported the statues were to be created by local artist Lungelo Gumede, but after an outcry over the hefty price, an event to introduce him was indefinitely postponed.
It is not yet clear who was granted permission to construct the statues.
Nkosi said they didn't believe Kaunda's statement about the cost and believed the figures could have been built in South Africa at a cheaper price.
He said this was one of ways in which the municipal officials were stealing from public funds.
Nkosi said in the long run, the city would have to spend more whenever there is a problem with the statues or they get damaged.
"They would have to send them back to find for repairs or they will have to arrange people from China to come and fix it. They can't just take someone locally to fix something, they opted to have it made elsewhere. The same thing happened with the SkyCar at Moses Mabhida stadium, which is yet to be fixed because they [are] waiting for some part [from] overseas," said Nkosi.
ActionSA’s Zwakele Mncwango also hit back at the city, saying they failed to separate the needs and the wants.
Mncwango also cited the ageing infrastructure as one of the important things the city should have been focusing on in 2017, rather than the statues.
He said it was concerning that the municipality had yet to build even one waste pipe, but had gone on to spend R22m on statues for former ANC leaders.
"What is lacking from the ANC is that they are failing to separate the wants and needs. Obviously, if you have enough resources, you can spend money on wants, but any economist will tell you that when you have scarce resources, you need to focus on the needs.
'The city has increased the tariffs above deflation because you can't fund the budget, how do you then explain to ratepayers that you've spent R22m on statutes? It doesn't make sense," said Mncwango.
Mncwango said the statues would only make the ANC officials feel good, but it didn't serve any purpose for a person who didn't have water, a house, a proper electricity connection or even a functioning waste collection service.
He said they were really shocked the city went ahead with the expenditure.
Mncwango said even though Kaunda might have got to the city while the project was already planned, he had the option to take a decision and call it off.
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