Tshwane ad: 'Mayor must pay'

2005-05-10 17:27

Johannesburg - Tshwane mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa and senior city officials should be held personally liable for the costs of an advertisement labelling Tshwane, rather than Pretoria, as "Africa's leading capital city", said a lobby group on Tuesday.

The group, calling itself Pretoria Civil Action (PCA), said it had sent an official request for Mkhatshwa, municipal manager Blake Mosley-Lefatola and other officials to be held accountable for the "misleading" advertising campaign.

The request was filed under the Municipal Finance Management Act, the body said in a statement.

The move follows a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority last week, ordering the Tshwane metro council to withdraw the advertisement.

The matter was brought before the authority by the PCA, which is lobbying for the retention of the name Pretoria.

The SA Geographical Names Council has yet to officially pronounce on the metro council's proposal to change the name of the greater metropolitan area to Tshwane, retaining the name Pretoria only for the city centre.

Marketing money 'being wasted'

According to the PCA, the council had budgeted R24m for the marketing campaign, which portrays the capital city as Tshwane.

The money, it said, could have been spent much more profitably "than being wasted on misleading advertisements that held no benefit for the city".

The PCA quotes the Municipal Finance Management Act as stipulating that political office bearers and officials who knowingly or negligently incur fruitless expenses, or are responsible for wasteful expenditure, may be held personally accountable.

Wasteful and fruitless expenses are defined in the act as those that hold no benefit and may have been prevented if reasonable care been taken, it said.

In its correspondence with the council, the PCA asked for prompt feedback on steps to be taken to recover the money.

Solidarity among the protesters

Copies of the demands were sent to the office of the auditor-general, the ministers of finance and local government, and Gauteng MECs, said the PCA.

The group comprises the Gauteng North Chamber of Business, trade union Solidarity, the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations and other bodies.

Metro council spokesman William Baloyi said no correspondence on the topic had been received by 15:00 on Tuesday.

"If we do receive it, the matter will be dealt with through the relevant structures," he said.

- SAPA