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Where Does Ekurhuleni Plan to Get R5 Million for G20 Social Summit?

During the Ekurhuleni Metro Council’s meeting on Thursday, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) enquired where the R5 million needed to hire venues for the G20 Social Summit will come from.

The Summit is set to take place between 18 and 20 November.

Around 5 000 delegates are expected to attend the Summit, which focuses on youth employment, inclusive growth, and the widening gap between rich and poor.

Some of the Summit’s sessions will be hosted at the Birchwood Hotel and the OR Tambo Conference Centre, and the Metro is responsible for covering the costs of hiring these facilities.

What raises concern is that this expenditure is not included in the Metro’s budget and also does not appear in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP).

The Freedom Front Plus, therefore, demands full disclosure of the following: which budget line will fund the R5 million for hiring the venues, whether the Treasury has approved the expenditure under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), and whether the Metro plans to cut existing service delivery programmes or take out yet another loan (which will only add to the Metro’s immense debt burden).

This decision reflects a growing trend of prioritising prestige projects and political spin doctoring, while residents’ actual needs are ignored.

The sudden “sprucing up” of Kempton Park’s CBD, after years of neglect, creates the impression that the Metro only acts when the world is watching.

Local businesses and residents have been pleading for intervention to stop the general decline, lawlessness and infrastructure decay for years, but the Metro simply ignored their pleas.

But now that the world’s eyes will be on Kempton Park, there is enough money and urgency to improve the area.

Residents deserve honest governance and transparency, not sham performances and window-dressing.

The Freedom Front Plus will keep applying pressure until the Metro steps up and every cent is accounted for.

Freedom Front Plus Community Development: The FF Plus is involved in community development initiatives.

Read More at the Source

Source – MyZA

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The Carlton Centre: Famous Visitors

At the peak of its prestige in the 1970s and 80s, the precinct was the ultimate address for high finance and luxury. It included the Carlton Hotel, a 30-story five-star icon that hosted everyone from Mick Jagger and Henry Kissinger to Margaret Thatcher. However, as the political landscape shifted in the 1990s and the “capital flight” to the northern suburbs began, the Carlton Centre became a victim of its own geography. The luxury hotel was “mothballed” in 1998 and remains a haunting, empty shell today, with its grand ballroom and 600 rooms frozen in time—a stark contrast to the bustling, gritty energy of the streets below.