Explanation for R10 million flower splurge nothing more than a smoke screen

Dear Editor

The DA has noted the desperate attempt by the Human Settlements Department to trivialise its expenditure of R10 million on flowers, gifts and sponsorships during the 2013/14 financial year. Minister Lindiwe Sisulu now claims that the department spent the money on prizes for the Govan Mbeki Awards but had not disclosed this in her reply to a DA Parliamentary question.

The Minister’s failure to disclose this means she misled the National Assembly – a serious violation of rules which we will take to Parliament’s ethics committee if need be. It also reaffirms our reasonable suspicion that some of the money went towards the ANC 2014 election campaign.

Nowhere in her reply did Sisulu attribute the extraordinary bill to the Govan Mbeki awards. She is only mentioning the awards now because she wants to cover up the embarrassment of her department squandering R10 million that could have built at least 100 houses for poor South Africans in the hopes of protecting her infant campaign for the ANC Presidency.

We call on Minister Sisulu to release publicly the names of individuals and organisations who received the flowers, gifts and sponsorships, the exact amounts of money spent on each of them and the reasons for doing so to as South Africans have a right to know whether their money is mismanaged or used to uplift them.

Regards

Solly Malatsi MP
Shadow Minister of Human Settlements