KZN Finance MEC’s Decision to Close Treasury Office Excites South Africans

• The KwaZulu-Natal's MEC for Finance, Francois Rodgers, has closed the province's treasury offices in Durban
• He moved the offices to Pietermaritzburg and the move is said to save the province over R1 million
• Rodgers spoke to Briefly News and said that he decided to close the offices on the first day as an MEC

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, the State of the Nation Address, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

KWAZULU-NATAL— KwaZulu-Natal's MEC for Finance Francois Rodgers said that he closed down the Treasury Offices in Durban because having two offices for one department makes no sense.

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KZN Finance MEC closes Durban office

@ZANewsFlash posted a statement from the KZN government announcing that Rodgers has closed the KZN Treasury offices in Durban. The office closure is expected to save the province over R1 million as the Provincial Treasury has two offices, and the other is in Pietermaritzburg.

Rodgers speaks to Briefly News

Speaking to Briefly News, Rodgers said it made no sense to have two offices for the same department. He said he decided to close the office on his first day as an MEC.

"I was informed that the MEC has two offices, one in Durban and one in Pietermaritzburg, which really doesn't make sense. I can't understand why an MEC needs to have two offices. I then asked them to pull up the lease agreement, and the lease expires at the end of July. I instructed the staff not to proceed with the renewal of the lease and notify the landlord that we won't be paying R1 million a year for that building. One office is enough for me."

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He said it has no impact on the staff.

"The staff will be incorporated into my office in Pietermaritzburg," he said.

View the tweet here:

South Africans celebrate MEC's move

Netizens were ecstatic that Rodgers closed the office down.

Real African said:

"KZN will change, no doubt. The cartel was destroying everything."

TruthSeeker said:

"If it's wasteful, close that thing. Let those who cry cry. Stop the gravy train!"

Colin Braude said:

"If the DA is going to make the GNUs cut down on fruitless and wasteful expenditure, no wonder the ANC does not want to give them more say."

Hatz86 said:

"It would be interesting to know who owns that building."

Bracken said:

"This explains why Panyaza is fighting so hard to exclude the DA. The taps are slowly being closed."

Rodgers says government must spend money on critical social issues

In a similar article, Briefly News reported that Rodgers called on the KZN provincial government to wisely use the money allocated to departments.

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In an exclusive interview days after his sworn-in, he told Briefly News that departments must spend money on unemployment and service delivery issues.

Source: Briefly News