PtG Article 18.06.2010

Demand for SA state entities to pay back money for tickets purchased with public funds

Cape Town – The National Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) on Tuesday demanded that state entities pay back nearly R11m spent on 2010 World Cup tickets in defiance of a government ban on purchasing match seats with public funds.

"Our union finds it totally unacceptable that our townships are burning because of poor service delivery and millions go hungry everyday, yet the overpaid state bureaucrats are stealing the taxpayer's money to watch soccer," Nehawu said.

"We call on the auditor general to investigate this violation of the Public Finance Management Act.

The National Treasury warned that officials who signed off on World Cup ticket purchases could face charges of financial misconduct and irregular expenditure in terms of the Public Finance Management Act.

However, it has emerged that various departments forked out a total of R10.9m for tickets.SOURCE: Sport24