The DA welcomes the announcement by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Finance MEC, Francois Rodgers that wasteful expenditure in terms of vehicle fleets allocated to MECs will be brought to an immediate halt.
The announcement comes after the MEC requested that his Treasury team supply a report on vehicle hire costs for KZN’s MECs, which revealed that R16.8million was spent by 11 provincial government departments over a period of just four months.
This while two recent parliamentary replies to questions posed by the DA to all KZN’s government departments, has further revealed that two Mercedes Benz SUVs were costing KZN taxpayers an eye watering R300 000 per month to hire.
It is clear that MEC Rodgers has inherited a shocking legacy of wasteful expenditure.
The DA believes that the information contained in the responses is merely scratching the surface, with more excessive expenditure to be revealed as the remaining parliamentary replies are received.
The bottom line is that this trend of runaway expenditure must be reversed and KZN must cut its suit according to its cloth. If this does not happen, there will soon be no money left to waste.
The DA welcomes MEC Rodgers commitment to exploring alternative options when it comes to vehicle hire for MECs, which could reduce expenditure by around R20million annually.
Prudent and frugal expenditure are the only way to strengthen KZN’s financial foundations and will provide the launch pad needed to exploit opportunities when the economy hopefully improves in the long term.
The DA remains committed to supporting MEC Rodgers in his austerity measures aimed at improving KZN’s financial circumstances, for the benefit of all our province’s citizens.