The eThekwini Mayor in KwaZulu Natal, Mxolisi Kaunda, has defended the R1.7 million budget for the Stars Awards gala event, where municipal officials will be recognised for outstanding work.
A council vote on the allocation of the money has drawn criticism from opposition parties and residents. The DA said R900,000 would go to venue hire and catering, calculating that the cost per person would come to R4,500 based on a guest list of 200 people.
It has now emerged that 200 officials are being recognised and that the number of guests would be more.
Kaunda says the bulk of the money will be spent on hiring a venue at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre .
“It is not privatised like others in the country. This is solely owned by the city through its entity. The bulk of the expenditure will be spent on venue hire,” says Kaunda.
“This means that no money will be wasted as ratepayer money will be injected back into its own entity, the people’s entity called ICC. This will not be a waste, as the Durban ICC is performing extremely well and continues to attract world-class national and international events.”
City Manager, Musa Mbhele, has emphasized that none of the money has been spent yet.
“When you want to host an event, you always get an estimate. It’s never an absolute figure. So the team is now going to rework the details, looking at the quotation received from the ICC.”
The post eThekwini Mayor defends Stars Awards gala event’s R1.7 million budget appeared first on SABC News .
