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Cape Town - Cosatu on Monday called on National Treasury to compel the City of Cape Town and the provincial government to stop what it termed the "fruitless and wasteful expenditure of public funds" on advertising.
The trade union federation's provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich lambasted the provincial government and the City of Cape Town for their advertising budget of R50m, which he maintained should have been spent on meeting the "urgent needs of our people".
"This R50m is spent on advertising and radio shows that negate the belt tightening that our country is going through," said Ehrenreich.
He cites as an example the ‘Premier & Mayor's show’ radio slot. This show, said Ehrenreich, talks of holes in roads and lights that are not working, whereas the R100 000 spent on the slot could have been used to build a house.
And while newspaper advertisements talk of MyCiti bus schedules, the money used to pay for them could have bought a bus for the Cape Flats, where there are no MyCiti routes as yet.
"Every time a new advert is heard or seen, it’s a waste of precious funding that could have changed a child’s life, with better education opportunities," said Ehrenreich.
Cosatu believes the R50m could have been better spent on the following:
• Building 400 homes for people in need of housing in backyards and informal settlements;
• Distributing iPads to 50 000 learners in poorer schools in the Western Cape;
• Upgrading the 5 000 classes in poorer schools; and
• Assisting 10 000 drug addicts with rehabilitation facilities.
"Clearly these advertisements are inappropriate expenditure at this time when money must be prioritised for (addressing) social injury in our communities," said Ehrenreich.
Responding to Ehrenreich's remarks, City of Cape Town spokesperson Priya Reddy said: "The City of Cape Town, like all major municipalities and organisations, must communicate with our residents in order to inform them about the work their government is doing.
"As a transparent and responsive municipality that requires partnerships with the residents of the City in order for progress to be made, communication is critical. The City is always cognizant of the public funds we are mandated to spend and does this responsibly, by prioritising the best interests of our residents.
"Our considered spending can be seen by the fact that we have received our 12th unqualified audit opinion - something not seen in any other municipality in South Africa."
