KZN PREMIER'S WORLD CUP TRIP VINDICATES IFP

September 6, 2006

New revelations about KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele's trip to the 2006 Soccer World Cup confirm the IFP's suspicions of excessive, irregular and unjustified conduct.

The Budget Performance Report for the First Quarter of the 2006/2007 financial year, compiled by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Treasury, is projecting a whopping over-expenditure in the Office of the Premier to the value of R44.8-million. This is partly due to unbudgeted overseas travel and accommodation expenses. The Premier's World Cup trip to France, Portugal and Germany is specifically mentioned.

The IFP found the size of the Premier's delegation to the World Cup suspect at the time and subsequently asked a parliamentary question to clarify the matter. The party asked the Premier how many members of his office took part in the trip, how much the trip cost and whether the size of the delegation was justified for the purpose of the trip.

The question caused an unprecedented knee-jerk reaction from the Premier during a sitting at the People's Parliament in KwaNgwanase. The Premier did not answer any part of the question.

The subsequent media reports suggested that the Premier's personal expenses during the trip and those of his wife had been covered by the mobile telephone company Siemens. This information, however, was not part of the Premier's reply in Parliament. The latest Treasury report now suggests that the trip was unbudgeted for and caused the respective department to overspend heavily.

"The IFP notes with interest - in the light of the multi-million rand over-expenditure - that the Premier was quoted in the media as saying that the trip did not cost taxpayers anything," said Dr Lionel Mtshali MPP, who leads the IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Parliament.

Dr Mtshali also said:

"It now appears that the Premier had a good reason for evading the parliamentary question from the IFP regarding his trip to Germany. The IFP feels vindicated.

"Our suspicions that this trip was somehow excessive, irregular and unjustified were heightened by the Premier's reluctance to answer our parliamentary question. These suspicions have now been confirmed. The Premier does not have a leg to stand on.

"The IFP is incensed by the Premier's arrogant approach to parliamentary questions. We are now convinced that the Premier is on a mission to prevent elected public representatives from exercising their oversight role over the executive arm of KwaZulu-Natal provincial government.

"This is an assault on representative democracy. The IFP will mobilise the parliamentary machine to allow the tax-paying public an insight into the internal workings of the current KwaZulu-Natal provincial administration."

Contact:
Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902