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eThekwini's R5,9 million Grant-in-Aid funding for community development under scrutiny

The eThekwini Municipality Grant-in-Aid (GIA) programme is expected to cost an estimated R5,9 million. Image: Independent Newspapers Archives The Grant-in-Aid (GIA) programme is expected to cost the eThekwini Municipality an estimated R5,9 million through workshops and a disbursement event. The GIA programme is divided into two categories, a capacity building workshop and the handover of the grants to the applicants. The matter was brought to the eThekwini Executive Committee on Tuesday for discussion. In the report tabled by the Governance and Human Resources Committee, the GIA capacity building workshops for six regions in eThekwini will cost R230,000 of which R140,000 is allocated for catering and R72,000 for sound hire. The committee stated that the purpose of the workshops is to impart knowledge and skills to organisations so that they can be able to access GIA and other sources of funding. The committee stated that the workshops will enhance the Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) and Non-Profit Companies (NPC) financial and narrative reporting skills for them to meet the policy requirements. The workshops target new organisations, beneficiary organisations and councillors and traditional leaders. The municipality will disburse R5,5 million to 111 GIA applicants. In total, 508 applications were received. The municipality is expected to spend a further R208,000 to cover the logistical arrangements pertaining to the event. A breakdown of the additional amount includes R80,000 for catering, R43,000 on marquee hire, decor R15,000 and entertainment R20,000. According to the committee the beneficiaries include; Early Childhood Development; Social Welfare; Sports Arts and Culture; Economic Development; Skills Development; and Faith-Based Organisations involved in community development work The committee stated that the panel followed the principle that all applications must be considered equally but placed special emphasis on rural and mostneedy communities. In this programme, the importance of reporting on how the organisation has utilised municipal funds will be emphasised and reiterated. Thabani Mthethwa, the DA's eThekwini Caucus Leader, said although the grant in aid was a good deed, the spending on hiring tents raised questions, adding that he had previously raised the issue in 2024. Mthethwa urged the city to use community halls and questioned the need to procure décor for the venues. Ethekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said, 'I thought the principle is that we should try to use our own facilities as far as possible. Only when those facilities are not adequate we must use alternative measures," Xaba said. Nkosenhle Madlala, ANC councillor and chairperson of the governance committee, said they have cut costs where they could. He said halls were subject to availability and this required the hire of marquees when they were not available. 'It does not necessarily mean what is approved here is spent. It is an anticipatory budget and there could be savings in certain areas. Every effort was made to spare the city resources and the overall costs are within limits. We host this event because of transparency,' Madlala said. Madlala stated that this will also be a platform where different organisations can network, share ideas and collaborate among themselves. The eThekwini municipality Audit Risk Committee (ARC) report for the second quarter ended 30 December 2024 presented to Exco, on Tuesday, also expressed concerns about the grant-in-aid. Siboniso Shabalala, Chairperson of the ARC stated that the Committee recommends the resolution of the non-compliance with the Grants in Aid policy requirements which were identified, as it suggests a lack of enforcement and adherence to the requirements set forth in the policy. Furthermore, poor monitoring of beneficiaries was noted, which hinders the ability to assess the effectiveness of the grant and ensure that resources are being utilised appropriately. City Manager Musa Mbhele said the policy has been circulated to internal and external stakeholders for comments. The comments will be reviewed by June 2025 and accordingly included in the draft policy during the finalisation stage of the policy where appropriate. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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