Lepelle-Nkumpi municipality must share secret

Financially strapped South Africans would love to know how you do it, writes Richard from Primrose.

Dear Lepelle-Nkumpi councillors, bravo. The Citizen describes your municipality as financially crippled, yet you still have the chutzpah to spend “more than R500 000 on expensive wines, whiskies and catering at the state of the municipality address”.

Interestingly, a very similar sum was mentioned in connection with those entertainment areas (not braai areas) for some deserving MPs. Is there some mystique about the half-million mark?

Clearly, you have also mastered the financial approach that works so well for some SOEs, various state entities and assorted municipalities.

Simply spend your way out of the financial toilet. You might as well be hung for a whole fall as for a lamb.

Also known as the Marie Antoinette School of Political Economics – let them drink whisky.

Your bold can-spend approach raises some interesting questions and points.

First, many South Africans, whose finances are in a similarly parlous state would love to know how you do it. We, too, would love to turn our deficits into the stuff of feasting and drinking. Please do share once your digestive systems have settled.

Second, it’s a mystery to us as to why you needed six hours, heaps of grub and gallons of booze to convey the simplest and most obvious of messages: our municipality is stuffed.

Typically, the spoilsport DA carped about your catering costs.

People, they say, are wallowing in poverty and don’t have access to such basic services as water. Lighten up, DA people. Who needs water when there’s fine whisky and wines?

I’m glad to see that you responded that the money was a drop in the ocean. Please lead us to this abundant ocean. Many of us could do with a drop of that dimension.