Where are the invisible books?
LIBRARIES play a vital role within KwaZulu-Natal communities. But it appears the vast majority in the province have not received any new books for three years.
The issue was recently uncovered by the DA after more than 180 regular book suppliers claimed that they struggled to earn an income since 2018. This after both the KZN Municipal Library and the KZN Provincial Library Services stopped purchasing books.
The claims come despite KZN’s Department of Arts and Culture’s supposedly audited financials which show that the budget allocation for library books has been used in full during this period.
The potential misuse of funding allocated to the purchase of library books is of extreme concern to the DA. This is the second time that we have been forced to enquire about the department’s procurement process in this regard.
The DA is aware that a previous tender for library services was cancelled by the department, which turned away 184 suppliers meant to supply books to KZN libraries.
According to departmental budget reports, it is also alleged that memorandums of agreements were delayed during the Covid-19 lockdown, which impacted library services including the securing of new books. The reality though is that the lack of new books in our libraries was an issue long before the onset of the virus.
Something does not add up and the DA has called for a full forensic audit into this matter.
The people of KZN deserve to know where those funds are and what they have been used for. If, as claimed by the department, books were bought – then where are these invisible books?
Furthermore, the department needs to divulge how many suppliers have been part of its supply chain management procurement process since 2018.
Clarity is needed in this regard due to the large number of suppliers who are coming forward and seeking answers on why they have not been given orders since then.
Ironically, in its 2020/21 budget allocation, the department had stated that it would purchase 90 000 books for municipal libraries.
Whether these too will remain a figment of the imagination remains to be seen.
The DA will continue to push for answers on this matter. The people of our province deserve properly resourced library services.
BRADLEY SINGH Member of the KZN provincial legislature and the DA KZN spokesperson for sports and recreation, and arts and culture