The Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, has committed to holding the fiscal line in South Africa.
However, a series of parliamentary questions submitted to all national departments reveals that a staggering R 13 864 380 has been spent on “sponsorships” of various institutions between 2014 and 2017.
The latest reply to parliamentary questions reveals, for example, that various state-owned companies transferred R 74 563 to the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, R3 725 624 to the South African Chamber of Commerce and R 1 151 393 to the Black Management Forum.
The total “sponsorship” so far is as follows: Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (R 74 563); South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (R 3 725 624), Black Management Forum (R1 151 393), Black Business Council (R 8 050 000), Business Unity South Africa (R 22 800) and the Progressive Business Forum (R 840 000).
And the biggest “sponsors” so far are as follows: Department of Trade and Industry (R 7 000 000), Transnet (R 5 059 002), Eskom (R 1 501 763), and Denel (R 303 615).
It boggles the mind that cash strapped state-owned enterprises would be allowed to use public funds to sponsor private institutions, especially when some of these institutions blatantly pursue a political agenda and bite the hand that feeds them.
I will therefore be requesting the Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, to investigate this matter when we have all the facts, based on all the replies to my parliamentary questions on this subject in Parliament.