Pretoria - In A bid to silence his political opponents, Tshwane mayor Randall Williams yesterday justified his international jaunt last week at the time the metro had a moratorium in place, barring spending of budget on travels and subsistence.
Williams said no money was used from municipal coffers to sponsor his trip to the C40 World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“The trip was fully funded by C40 Cities and the host City of Buenos Aires. No cost was incurred by the City of Tshwane. I further ensured that there was no large delegation; it was me and one City official who attended the summit,” he said.
His sponsored trip was taken some days after city manager Johann Mettler imposed a moratorium on spending the municipal budget on conferences, staff training, travel and subsistence, study tours and catering, among others.
In a circular dated October 12, 2022, Mettler noted that the prohibition on budget spending was in line with the City’s cost containment policy.
Williams said his administration was serious about protecting and improving the municipality’s financial health and did not consider unfunded international trips.
As for the purpose of his trip, he said: “During the summit, I had participated in several bilateral meetings, which provided a platform to exchange ideas on eco-friendly service delivery solutions.
“This is quite important, especially during this time when many municipalities are starting to look for alternative energy solutions to assist in limiting the impact of load shedding.”
The summit was attended by mayors, business leaders, philanthropists, scientists and other stakeholders from across the globe to strategise on tangible plans to address climate change.
“C40 Cities is a global member-based organisation for cities that commit to climate change action and provides a platform for collaborative implementation. Five metropolitan municipalities in South Africa, including the City of Tshwane, have been admitted to C40 Cities,” Williams said.
The City was able to develop and launch a robust Climate Action Plan with collaborative work with C40 Cities.
The plan essentially sets out commitments and plans for Tshwane to be a net-zero carbon and climate-resilient city by 2050, he said.
“Tshwane is the capital city and home to a large diplomatic community. It is important that the City forms part of global engagements to share ideas and learn best practices to fight climate change and protect our natural environment.”
Pretoria News