City budgets cut to pay for Madiba events

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THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality slashed R6-million from the budgets of several key service delivery projects to pay for events and paraphernalia during the 10-day mourning period for former statesman Nelson Mandela.

Cuts included some in the waste collection and job creation budgets. In one case, the health budget for transport, including refuse collection, was cut by R575030 – just less than the R600000 spent on T-shirts.

A report on how the money was spent reveals how the city forked out more than R200000 for loudhailers, R750000 to repair CCTV cameras, R300000 for signage and advertising, as well as the R600000 for T-shirts.