Miss World costs soar to R90m
2009-12-11 11:24
Johannesburg - The Miss World pageant will cost the City of Johannesburg R90m, double the amount told to the public, the Mail&Guardian reported on Friday.
The paper said this was according to an agreement signed by Graham Cooke from Miss World Limited, the pageant owners, and chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Company, Lindiwe Mahlangu-Kwele.
The contract stipulates that the JTC would pay a hosting fee of about £6m (R73m) and foot the bill for logistical, travel and accommodation arrangements, bringing the cost to "at least" R90m, the report read.
The city would end up footing the bill because the JTC is a section 21 company funded by it.
Essential services
The City cut its budget by more than four percent, the report read, raising concerns that it would falter on delivering essential services. It added that the JTC was insolvent and was given a R13m loan by the city last month.
Mahlangu-Kwele denied that the company was insolvent and said the decision to host the pageant was taken by the mayoral council on November 6. She confirmed that the city's contracted costs included £6m for the hosting rights with the R17.3m projected budget to be offset by sponsors.
She did not indicate who the sponsors were or how much they would contribute, the report said.
- SAPA
