More pressing projects to spend on than a mere beauty pageant
By Ashraf Patel
(source: The Star – December 17, 2009 Edition 1)
It is disturbing to note that millions of rands were spent by the City of Johannesburg on the Miss World 2009 pageant this past weekend.At a time when the global financial crisis requires modesty and cost savings, the poor and vulnerable look up to the government to support local economic development initiatives and their social welfare. Yet, the City of Joburg went the extra mile to spend on such a frivolous activity.
The R90 million that the Johannesburg Tourism Company invested in the pageant will have very little demonstrable impact on the poor local communities.
As a ratepayer of the Joburg City Council, I would have spent the R90m on the following socio-economic projects:
– Pothole repairs: repair the hundreds of potholes and replace the hundreds of manhole covers that have been stolen. This would create temporary jobs for hundreds of small construction workers and save motorists on inevitable repair bills;
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