SABC gravy plane to Beijing cost R2,7m

With a toothless opposition, this wanton waste by public officials of taxpayer funds will continue. Forty percent of the population languishes in squalor and the people entrusted to lift them out of their misery have no qualms about blowing R2,7 MILLION on a junket to Beijing. Disgraceful!

29/10/2008 - Gravy plane shot down

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‘Our allegations have been confirmed, but South Africans have a right to know more,' says Greyling.

Lance Greyling, ID Spokesperson for Communications, says a written reply from Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has confirmed most of the ID's allegations made over the SABC's ‘gravy plane' to the Beijing Olympics.

‘However, we in the Independent Democrats believe it is the right of every South African taxpayer and citizen to know exactly what the R2 701 217 was spent on,' Mr Greyling says.

Greyling has sent another question to the Minister asking for a breakdown of the expenditure per person and whether any of those listed as part of the delegation were accompanied by travel companions whose expenses were also covered by the SABC.

‘The Minister has also given us a long list of purposes the members of the delegation were required to fulfil and the ID would like to see a full report back on exactly how the three non-executive board members and staff members fared,' says Greyling.

‘Once we have these answers the Independent Democrats will be in a position to comment on whether the public broadcaster, which is budgeting for a substantial loss this year, should have squandered almost R3 million on what appears to us to have been nothing more than a holiday.

‘We have a right as the funders of the public broadcaster to know exactly what every cent of the R2, 7m was spent on,' Greyling says.

‘We have also asked the Minister for details on which other international sporting events over the past year have been attended by staff members and non-executive board members.

‘Given the current economic downturn and the high cost of living that many South Africans are experiencing the ID believes that this type of extravagant spending on the part of the SABC is immoral and a slap in the face for all South Africans,' says Greyling.