Madam Deputy Speaker, the DA is appalled by the recent decision taken by various municipalities in Limpopo to send officials on a sports trip to Mozambique.
Despite the fact that the Thabazimbi Municipality is listed as one of the municipalities in the country with the largest debt at R1,07 billion this council allowed 64 municipal employees to take part in a sporting activity on 1 to 13 September 2009 in Maputo, at an estimated cost of R253 000 to the taxpayers' account.
This wasteful expenditure has not only occurred in the midst of an economic recession, but it effectively means that, for that period, these municipal employees will be absent and no proper service will be rendered to the people of Thabazimbi. This shows how the ruling party pays lip service to the principle of putting the needs of ordinary citizens first.
To put this in context, it has taken an average of R50 000 to build one Reconstruction and Development Project, RDP, house. The money used for these municipal employees could be used to build RDP houses for five families. Alternatively, at R300 for one person per household it could be used to train 843 households in basic food garden skills and get each of them seeds to start their own food gardens.
It is time for the ANC to see the reality and take immediate steps to stop this type of wasteful expenditure. [Applause.]