Durban Council Wastes R2 Million on Colombian Trip That Never Happened

The eThekwini Council in South Africa just spent a whopping R2-million, according to the DA, on a trip to Colombia that never happened. The Durban delegates – all 59 of them! – were unable to board the plane in Brazil for the final flight to Colombia because they didn’t have the correct visas!

The Democratic Alliance says it has requested an urgent investigation into “R2-million of the people’s money being wasted on a Council-approved overseas trip that went horribly wrong.”

The trip by the large eThekwini Traffic Authority (ETA) delegation was approved by the Council as a means to assess Colombia’s public transport system. It was hoped the trip would encourage Durban’s bus and and taxi operators to buy into the Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) currently being rolled out in the city.

The DA says it opposed the proposal because the same mission could’ve been achieved for a lot less than R2-million.

“Shockingly, the delegation never made it to Colombia despite R2 million being spent. The eThekwini Municipality failed to obtain the visas required to enter Colombia and were stranded in Sao Paulo, Brazil,” claims Chris Pappas, DA eThekwini Councillor, in a media statement.

The delegates – led by Head of ETA Thami Manyathi – were stopped by Brazilian officials because they didn’t have the correct documents.

Apparently “tempers flared” as Manyathi and other officials scrambled to make a plan as the group had no food or accommodation planned in Brazil.

According to Municipal sources speaking to the DA, an additional amount of between R400,000 and R500,000 was requested from the City to pay for the unexpected stay in Brazil.

“There is no indication of how this money was approved or who approved it,” said Pappas.

“The delegation was forced to spend a ‘holiday’ in Brazil with many of the operators taking time to visit malls and bars until their return flight to South Africa.”

He said there has been no debriefing between operators and officials, and that on top of that the bus and taxi operators are demanding that the original trip to Colombia be replanned!

Pappas says the DA believes there should be a thorough investigation and someone must be held accountable as this is “not a small mistake like forgetting to pay your parking ticket. Millions of rands have been wasted.”

Durban is also facing more troubles with the R3 billion bus systems that have yet to be completed or come online.