Mpumalanga’s Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation’s performance report for the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year clearly shows the ANC government squandering taxpayers’ money while neglecting basic service delivery.
The Department’s spending priorities are completely out of touch with the reality at grass-roots level. Critical infrastructure projects are delayed or halted due to poor management and a lack of oversight.
Of the approximately R62 million earmarked for cultural affairs, millions are spent on superficial celebrations, while sustainable projects are left undone. Examples include:
• Approximately R5 million for Dr Esther Mahlangu’s 90th birthday celebration: Dr Mahlangu is a world-renowned Ndebele artist, but spending such an amount on a single event is unjustifiable in light of the needs of disadvantaged communities.
• Approximately R12 million for general language and heritage celebrations: This expenditure is excessive for ceremonies with little long-term value. The money primarily benefits external contractors and organisers, rather than the local artists who receive only a small fraction of the budget.
• Only about R14 million reaches local artists and community projects: This highlights the gap between expensive centralised celebrations and the actual development of culture at grass-roots level.
In addition, professional soccer clubs such as TS Galaxy (R15 million) and Casric Stars (R10 million) receive large financial injections, while local schools and amateur clubs struggle to get by without basic equipment.
Furthermore, the approximately R18 million earmarked for library projects remains unspent due to flawed tender processes, incompetent contractors and administrative red tape.
Administration and corporate services consumed R31 million for, among other things, excessive travel costs, publicity contracts and office expenses. Administration functions as a self-serving mechanism at the expense of real service delivery.
The ANC’s incompetence is particularly evident in two projects:
• Pilgrim’s Rest: a historic tourism jewel that received no funding for restoration in the 2025/26 budget.
• Mpumalanga High Altitude Training Centre (MHATC) in Belfast – a project that has already cost more than R300 million, but remains incomplete and serves as a classic example of a white elephant.
Taxpayers deserve better than empty promises and exorbitant ceremonies.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) will pressure the Provincial Legislature to set binding timelines for all infrastructure projects. And the party will insist on a fair redistribution of sports funding to schools and local clubs in the relevant portfolio committee.
The Freedom Front Plus will also take steps to compel an independent audit of administrative expenditure so that wasteful expenditure is stopped immediately and every cent of taxpayers’ money is used for the community’s benefit.
Not using the available funds to improve residents’ quality of life is unacceptable.
The Freedom Front Plus will keep exposing maladministration while fighting for fair, tangible service delivery that adds real value.
