Durban - Opposition party councillors are demanding that eThekwini Municipality conduct an investigation into the viability of the uShaka Marine Theme Park amid growing concerns about the entity’s financial affairs.
This after a report was tabled before the council yesterday revealing that it intends to write off more than R15 million of irrecoverable expenditure. The entity’s board took the decision.
UShaka has battled to stay afloat and has received many bailouts from the municipality. A few months ago, a study was presented by experts on the steps the municipality could take to revitalise the entity and make it profitable.
During a full council meeting yesterday, a report was tabled detailing the decision by the board to write off R15m.
The announcement was not well received by councillors in the opposition benches who said the City needed to evaluate if the entity is viable.
The report said, “The Municipal Council is advised of the decision taken by the board of directors of the Durban Marine Theme Park (DTMP), trading as uShaka Marine World, to write off irrecoverable expenditure of R15.1m, mainly, due to irregularities surrounding the procurement processes followed to source goods and services where required.”
It said the decision was made in line with the legislation which empowers the board of an entity to investigate Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful (UIFW) expenditure and therefore take a decision to recover or write off if deemed irrecoverable.
“In a nutshell, the board conducted investigations on cases involving alleged failure to obtain three quotations, as per the requirement in terms of the Supply Chain Management Regulations,” said the report highlighting an example of this irregular expenditure, adding that another was a case involving an alleged fraudulent letter of award.
“The outcome thereof revealed that value for money was achieved and that necessary processes were followed, including reporting in writing to the Internal Control Unit, the Bid Adjudication Committee and the DTMP Social & Ethics Committee,” it said.
As part of mitigating measures, the report continued, consequence management has been implemented against the DMTP officials implicated, and the matter pertaining to fraudulent letter of award was submitted for the facilitation of a criminal investigation by the eThekwini Municipality City Integrity and Investigations Unit.
The ACDP’s Jameel Essop said the City needed to assess whether the entity serves its purpose.
“The ACDP eThekwini will not accept the write-off of irrecoverable expenditure and we appeal to the city manager to conduct a feasible study on uShaka Marine. We cannot continue in the current term as if we have money to waste.”
He said uShaka Marine received many bailouts throughout the years, amounting to millions of rand.
“Speaker, today, we are presented with an item where the board of directors had taken a decision to write-off irrecoverable expenditure of R15 million,” he said, adding that the money for these bailouts are taken from ratepayers who are also facing difficult times.
IFP councillor Jonathan Annipen echoed the same sentiments.
“The IFP has taken a deliberate and decisive decision to object to unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure at all committees and on all fronts in this city.
“When these entities were established, the thought process behind it was that they would be self-sufficient, create jobs, and develop into a sustainable business model.
“What was not expected and cannot be condoned is this notion that bad decisions that impact ratepayers and service delivery, for survival of these entities, will be ratified and endorsed by these councils,” he concluded.
ANC councillor Thembo Ntuli said entities like uShaka were important in boosting tourism to the City.