Parliament has rubbished claims by the official opposition that President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address (SONA) cost taxpayers R11 million.
The national legislature said on Sunday that when the finances were reconciled, the bill would be far less than the “deliberate fabrications and misleading allegations”.
“Parliament made a commitment over a number of years to progressively reduce expenditure on SONA through more prudent management and had been succeeding as it reached a R4m mark in 2017,” spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said.
Parliament was confident that when all bills were paid and everything reconciled, the costs could be even far less than the target, he said.
He was reacting to DA chief whip John Steenhuisen, who said parliamentary replies revealed that the cost of this year’s SONA reached an astonishing R11m.
Steenhuisen sent questions immediately after the controversial SONA to the Police Department, Public Works Department, and the State Security Agency (SSA).
“Replies to written questions to the ministers of Police and Public Works revealed that their departments spent a further R4.085million and R2.7million, respectively.”
Steenhuisen said an additional R204153 was spent on deploying 441 soldiers from the SA National Defence Force “to maintain law and order during the opening of Parliament”.
The State Security Agency did not answer Steenhuisen’s questions.
Steenhuisen put the total cost for this year’s SONA at R10 989 188. “This eye-watering amount could have been better spent on initiatives to create jobs, provide skills and training or on education for young South Africans.”
The amount spent made a mockery of (Secretary to Parliament Gengezi) Mgidlana’s comments that the annual event had been “about the president and members of the public interacting with the speech being made”, he said.
But, Mothapo said Parliament had ensured that high quality and delivery standards of SONA were maintained and improved.
The budget for this year’s SONA was from R4.5m budgeted last year and there was no dinner in line with the cost-cutting measures. Also, premier events like SONA pumped millions into the City of Cape Town’s economy and the Western Cape.