ANT KATZ

It seems that the initial gift of R6 million worth of statue may end up costing Johannesburg ratepayers in excess of R20 million.The cities of Johannesburg and Ramallah were twinned in November 2014 – while the City Council was only advised of it early in 2015 at a City Council meeting, according to minutes of the meeting, that were obtained by SA Jewish Report. 

In her response, Madonsela undertakes that she and her team will assess the complaint and come back to Alberts in due course.

RIGHT: The statue has become a tourist attraction for Ramallah. It stands on a massive foundation in this newly-built traffic circle with the huge marble plaque seen across the street. The VF wants to know if Johannesburg’s ratepayers funded all of this

“Although the central focus of the complaint is on the City of Johannesburg,” says Alberts, “the supporting department, namely that of the national Department of Public Works, also deserves scrutiny so as to ensure a holistic enquiry”.

The complaint emanates from what the VF says it suspects to be an “unauthorised decision by Mayor Parks Tau and his delegates to create and donate a R6 million statue of late President Nelson Mandela to Ramallah, and in doing so contradicting the tender regulations and possibly doing it “behind closed doors without discussing it at a Council meeting”.

The VF’s request to the Public Protector is that she launch an investigation into the City of Johannesburg and the Department of Public Works in respect of the following issues:

1. Investigate the “outrageous amount of R6 million” paid for the statue; whether the City of Johannesburg had the financial means for this donation; and the cost of the delegation’s trip to Ramallah to unveil the statue; 

2. The departure from normal Council tender regulations leading to the tender being awarded to a son of Struggle icon Oliver Tambo;

3. Whether Parks Tau and delegates had the necessary permission/authority to make this donation and how many visited Ramallah in the planning, creating and unveiling of the statue.

4. Whether political interference played a role; whether the mayor or anyone else involved was guilty of negligence; and, if so, whether anyone found guilty can be held personally liable.

---

City silent

SA Jewish Report has previously posed similar questions to the City of Johannesburg but has met with continued silence. 

RIGHT: All smiles by the South African and Palestinian delegations at the launch of the behemoth

All media have the right to issue an application under the 2002 Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Act (PAIA) to get the answers.