Free State MEC's R300,000 Trip Expenses Spark Outrage in South Africa
- South Africans were shocked that a Free State MEC had spent over R300,000 for two trips in early 2024
- The trips Dibolelo Mance took with her Chief of Staff Elias Molefe and driver LD Mokoena were reportedly not work-related
- Mance’s spokesperson, Paul Matlanyane, has dismissed the reports and explained that the MEC’s travels were in line with her work
Zingisa Chirwa is an experienced Briefly News journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, who has covered current affairs on the radio for over 15 years.
Source: UGC
South Africans were shocked that a Free State MEC had spent over R300,000 for her trips to Durban and Cape Town in early 2024.
Free MEC R300k trip to Durban
According to the City Press, an insider stated that the trips by the Public Works and Infrastructure Department’s Dibolelo Mance, her Chief of Staff Elias Molefe and driver LD Mokoena were not work-related.
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The publication said it had seen documents that confirmed the department paid about R322,800 for the trio's three-night stay at the Sala Beach House Hotel in Durban in February 2024. The paper also revealed that the department allegedly forked over R100,000 for the trio’s four-day trip to Cape Town in March 2024. The report explained that the MEC spent thousands more on car rentals.
Mance’s spokesperson, Paul Matlanyane, told the publication that the trips were work-related. He said that the Durban trip was a briefing session with the then Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala and that Mance went to Cape Town for the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of SA.
Mzansi shocked by MEC’s expenses
Some social media users called for action against the Free State MEC.
@JabulaniShanga2 said:
“She must be fired; she is embarrassing Umbutho.”
@VioletBloo5482 suggested:
“Investigate old crimes first...Don't bombard us with new corruption so we forget the old.”
@Modisanecharles asked:
“Already?
@PHNK10 commented:
“RSA at its best, Thixo [God].”
@EddieDeepfield said:
“Fire her.”
Nongoma Municipality officials arrested for theft and fraud
Briefly News reported that senior officials of the Nongoma Municipality were arrested for money laundering, theft, and fraud.
The officials appeared in court, and one of the officials’ bodyguards and the bodyguard’s wife were arrested.
South Africans were taken aback by the stark level of corruption in municipalities in the government.
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Source: Briefly News
