The new mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in South Africa has banned public officials under his leadership from flying business and first class during domestic functions.
The Mayor, Athol Trollip said the move is part of austerity measures being employed by the municipality, and the money saved in the process will be redirected towards improvement of service delivery.
In a statement issued this week, Trollip who represents the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said: “Under previous administrations, an excessive amount of money was spent on luxurious travel instead of on service delivery. Those days are over”.
The African National Congress (ANC) has been strongly criticised for corruption and wasteful spending, and the DA, which recently won the local government elections has promised to cut spending and address the service delivery challenges in the areas that it now controls.
Read: Politicians to use Hyundai i20 or Toyota Corolla to save money, Mayor declares
Recently, Solly Msimanga, another newly elected DA mayor in Tshwane has also employed similar tough austerity measures, putting an immediate stop to all purchases or leasing of luxury cars for politicians and senior officials.
Msimanga who also banned blue lights for politicians and officials in Tshwane, including on his own vehicle, and he has won admirers on social media with his stance, which “puts the needs of people first, and not the needs of politicians first”.
Trollip said his administration is on its way to meeting the promise it made to secure R100 million ($7million) in savings in its first 100 days, which will be redirected towards improvement of service delivery and growing the economy to create jobs.
There have been calls to cut spending in government departments and municipalities and the austerity drives spearheaded by Msimanga, and Trollip are being applauded by observers.
