Cape Town - ActionSA in the Western Cape has written to the speaker of the legislature, Daylin Mitchell, requesting that the Ethics Committee investigate Premier Alan Winde’s trip to the US.
The trip, with a small delegation, in early June to lobby for the renewal of South Africa’s membership in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) cost more than R1.6 million.
The trade act allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries dutyfree access to the US market for more than 1 800 products, in addition to more than 5 000 products eligible for duty-free access under the Generalised System of Preferences programme.
In a statement released by ActionSA, Western Cape provincial chairperson Michelle Wasserman said the exorbitant amounts spent warranted scrutiny.
The funds were procured from the Office of the Premier, the Office of the Director-General, and Protocol and Cabinet Services and Directorate: International Relations.
Wasserman said: “We are further troubled that the misuse of taxpayer funds is a recurring phenomenon among the political office-bearers of the Western Cape Government, as evidenced by the case of the deputy speaker’s improper use of a luxury vehicle, leading to fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the amount of R158 297.86.
“Despite our request in December 2022, the speaker has yet to provide a response regarding our call for deputy speaker Beverley Schäfer to pay back the full amount found to have been wasted by her.”
The party has requested a thorough investigation into any misuse or wastage of taxpayer funds, as well as whether the full amount has been recovered from Schäfer.
Winde’s spokesperson Regan Thaw said the matter related to the US trip was fully dealt with during a sitting of the legislature last month.
“Trade and tourism are constitutionally recognised concurrent national and provincial powers. As a result, it is our responsibility as the Western Cape government to those in the US whom we value as trade partners, and to our citizens in the province, to safeguard our trade relations in the interests of job creation and economic growth.”
Dugmore said the trip and the costs could never be justified, and that the auditor-general would be requested to fully investigate the trip.
“The DA-led provincial government has no constitutional powers regarding Agoa. Trade agreements are the domain of the national government. Winde never met a single lawmaker in the US. He only met staffers. This itself exposes the visit as merely a DA propaganda exercise,” he said.