Durban — The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has called on member of the executive council (MEC) for sports, arts and culture Amanda Bani-Mapena to conduct a full investigation into the purchase of two buses meant to be used as mobile libraries over a year ago.
The DA said the department of arts and culture (DoAC) spent R4 million purchasing the 65-seater buses, which have however remained unused and parked at the KZN Museum Services in Pietermaritzburg since March 2021.
The vehicles were meant to bring library services closer to residents and encourage them to become active members.
DA KZN arts and culture spokesperson Bradley Singh said the party had previously called on the former MEC to conduct a full probe into this alleged wasteful expenditure and hold those officials responsible to account, but however nothing was done.
Singh said the DoAC had failed to ensure accountability, while the buses were still standing idle after 18 months.
“The failure of this initiative reinforces the fact that the DoAC is not fully dedicated to ensuring the success of this programme, to the detriment of KZN’s citizens, in particular those living in areas without libraries,” said Singh.
“The DoAC has become synonymous with wasteful expenditure. The irregularities within this department, particularly during the past year, are unprecedented and largely due to the former MEC failing to effectively carry out her duties.”
He said the buses were yet another ‘white elephant’ and formed part of a long list of failed DoAC initiatives.
The DA was expecting MEC Bani-Mapena to ensure that this matter was prioritised and the probe finally launched, Singh added.
“We also expect her to provide us with logical reasons for the purchase of the buses despite there being technical issues from the start relating to their conversion to mobile libraries. The time has come for the new MEC and her department to act in the interests of KZN’s people, root out the corruption and fraud that has been rife for so many years,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Automotive South Africa has officially opened and handed over the 15th library and information centre in the company’s corporate social investment programme to St Ives Primary School in Soweto.
This was the third library handover in 2022 in collaboration with the Imperial & Motus Community Trust and Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea.
The library and information centre worth R1.62 million was installed in one of the classrooms.
The donation includes the acquisition of books, computer laptops, learning aids such as a digital “whiteboard”, and the salary of a librarian for a year.
The librarian will manage the teaching programmes and support the school for five years, while training staff members at the school to take on the role of librarians after this period.
School’s principal, Ilana Heradien, said she was looking forward to seeing the pupils coming into the library and the change it would bring in their lives.
“To create that wonderful space for them to be in, to be surrounded by books. A big reason why learners in South Africa struggle to read is because there is a lack of resources. I have no doubt that this new library will have a huge positive impact on the lives of our learners at St Ives,” she said.
Recalling her early love for reading, Meagan Alexander, a senior digital brand manager at Hyundai Automotive SA, said this grew when her mother took her to the library as a young child.
“It was not easy, because we had to take two taxis to get to the library, but it was worth the effort. This new library at St Ives puts the books and resources on the learners’ doorstep; they do not even have to take a taxi trip to get there,” said Alexander.
Daily News