The City of Tshwane on Wednesday dismissed a media report that R15 million was spent on takeaways for municipal employees in a month.
"The allegations are devoid of any truth, malicious and deliberately spread to discredit the management of the city and to mislead the public," spokesman Selby Bokaba said in a statement.
On Wednesday, The Star reported that R15m was spent in a month on takeaways for Tshwane staff members who worked overtime.
However, Bokaba said the R15m was the three-year budgeted amount, not a monthly expenditure.
"The actual expenditure between August 2013 to date is R4,308,656.20. The three-year R15m tender is effective from August 2013 to July 2016."
The Star reported that the city's tender statistics for August last year, tabled at a municipal public accounts portfolio meeting on Friday, reflected the amount spent on the food.
The newspaper reported that the questions raised at the meeting related to how many people were required to work overtime to need food that cost that much in a month, the job they were doing, and the type of food supplied.
According to the tender statistics, five contractors were awarded the contract in 2012 for supplying and delivering food to the amount of R15m.
Members of the portfolio committee were expecting formal answers and disclosures when it reconvened in January.
Bokaba said the takeaways were food parcels, which were a "ration packet that contained non-perishable products to ensure a long shelf life since it is purchased in bulk and only drawn from the store if and when required".
He said the food parcels were only issued if an employee, who was on standby, was called out to perform duties for a period longer than four hours continuously, and if the employee missed a meal during that time. Such staff included technicians who attended to power failures.
He said the provision of the food parcels to technicians was part of council policy, which arose from negotiations between the employer and labour unions.
City dismisses 'R15m takeaway' report
The City of Tshwane on Wednesday dismissed a media report that R15 million was spent on takeaways for municipal employees in a month.
"The allegations are devoid of any truth, malicious and deliberately spread to discredit the management of the city and to mislead the public," spokesman Selby Bokaba said in a statement.
On Wednesday, The Star reported that R15m was spent in a month on takeaways for Tshwane staff members who worked overtime.
However, Bokaba said the R15m was the three-year budgeted amount, not a monthly expenditure.
"The actual expenditure between August 2013 to date is R4,308,656.20. The three-year R15m tender is effective from August 2013 to July 2016."
The Star reported that the city's tender statistics for August last year, tabled at a municipal public accounts portfolio meeting on Friday, reflected the amount spent on the food.
The newspaper reported that the questions raised at the meeting related to how many people were required to work overtime to need food that cost that much in a month, the job they were doing, and the type of food supplied.
According to the tender statistics, five contractors were awarded the contract in 2012 for supplying and delivering food to the amount of R15m.
Members of the portfolio committee were expecting formal answers and disclosures when it reconvened in January.
Bokaba said the takeaways were food parcels, which were a "ration packet that contained non-perishable products to ensure a long shelf life since it is purchased in bulk and only drawn from the store if and when required".
He said the food parcels were only issued if an employee, who was on standby, was called out to perform duties for a period longer than four hours continuously, and if the employee missed a meal during that time. Such staff included technicians who attended to power failures.
He said the provision of the food parcels to technicians was part of council policy, which arose from negotiations between the employer and labour unions.
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