CASH-STRAPPED, semi-state bodies and government departments in South Africa came in for heavy criticism yesterday following revelations in a Sunday newspaper that they had spent up to €11 million on World Cup tickets.
According to the Sunday Times, most of that sum, about €7.5 million, was spent by the parastatals, some of which have received massive financial bailouts from national government over the past two years because of poor performances in their various sectors.
Electricity company Eskom, which on Sunday gave in to union demands for a 9 per cent pay increase for 29,000 employees to avoid strike action during the Fifa tournament, was one of the biggest spenders, forking out about €1.1 million on tickets.
A second company, South African Airways (SAA), bought 1,749 tickets in 2008 only months before it received a R1.6 billion (currently €150 million) handout from the government. It has spent more than €2 million so far on World Cup tickets and extras.
In addition, petrochemical company PetroSA, and Transnet, the national transport group, jointly spent about €2.2 million on World Cup games.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi criticised the spending as outrageous and a “most selfish way of spending money” in a country with widespread poverty.
“We are appealing to workers to act in the national interest, when their managers are acting in the most selfish way. This is what is sickening about the whole thing. Workers can’t get a housing allowance, yet Eskom spends millions on tickets.
“SAA is hardly recovering from disastrous years of bailouts from government. I don’t think they are out of the woods yet, but they have the audacity to buy tickets,” he said.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Lindiwe Mazibuko has also claimed government departments, parastatals and ANC-run municipalities have spent a further R17.3 million (€1.6 million) on “unnecessary luxuries” such as cars, artwork and VIP facilities.
“Adding the two brings the total to R127.3 million (€12 million), enough to build 2,357 breaking new ground houses or employ an additional 987 new teachers for a year,” said the main opposition spokesperson.
According to Mazibuko, the city of Johannesburg, Tshwane municipality, the Gauteng and Free State provincial governments and the Mpumalanga department of sport were big spenders on World Cup tickets despite warnings from the finance ministry that there would be legal ramifications for those who used state funds wastefully on match tickets.
She said: “This wanton spending is a direct flouting of [finance minister Pravin] Gordhan’s directive that municipalities refrain from spending public money on World Cup tickets, and his recommendation that provincial and national government departments follow suit.”