…Researched and contributed by Solomon Thomas.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal has expressed concern that vultures may take advantage of the resignation of Arts and Culture, Sports and Recreation MEC, Amanda Bani-Mapena, to misuse taxpayers’ money.
Bani-Mapena resigned from the department after serving only ten months.
DA spokesperson Bradley Singh said that her resignation comes when there are still individuals linked to corruption scandals who are still employed in the department.
He said that Bani-Mapena shielded the department from failure and introduced some form of stability, and her sudden resignation will leave a vacuum at the department.
DA calls for transparency and action from Acting MEC
Singh called on Acting MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, to step up and ensure that the people of KZN, including artists, start seeing the money intended for them.
He said that it is critical that she does not simply play a caretaker role in terms of managing critical funding.
The DA is committed to uncovering the reasons for Bani-Mapena’s resignation for the sake of transparency.
Bani-Mapena denies claims of misuse of funds
Bani-Mapena denied that her sudden resignation has to do with the R4 million three-day Multi-Genre Music Festival held at the Durban ICC.
The KZN Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture (DSAC) has also denied claims that the event was a waste of funds.
The department said that approximately R.4 million directly benefitted the artists.