GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Three weeks ago, there was consternation in the community when the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality announced that all public libraries in the municipality would be closed from 4 February until further notice.
This was due to the necessary funding not being received timeously from the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC), which claimed that the municipality had not submitted the required documents on time, thus delaying its subsidy for this current financial year.
The problem was fortunately resolved, after the imminent closure received exposure on national news. All the libraries remained open, with DSRAC making the promised payment the next week.
More information has subsequently been received from DSRAC on the funding process, and the problems and challenges that the department itself faces.
The department subsidises 33 municipalities across the province including two metros. When asked how many of these submitted all the required documents timeously, it appears that only 19 had actually complied with the deadlines. “It is always the department’s intention to transfer the documents at the beginning of the municipal financial year. The first municipalities to comply and be paid their subsidies were paid between October and December” stated the department’s spokesperson, communications manager Andile Nduna.
DSRAC had previously commented that they had not paid because of the DBNLM audit disclaimer, which the municipality claimed is not legally allowed. Nduna responded that “the department needed to ensure that it exercises controls to ensure that the disclaimer of opinion in the audit outcomes of the auditor general’s report on the municipality does not have a negative effect on the transfer to the municipality, hence the request for further documents”.
According to the DBNLM, the actual costs of running the library services is R4.4 million per annum, and DSRAC only gives a subsidy of R2.3 million. Due to insufficient budget allocation and government- wide budget cuts, DSRAC unfortunately does not have enough budget to fund the library function in full. Currently the department is not in a position to increase this allocation, according to Nduna.
Another huge problem facing the local libraries is the internet - a wonderful provision, but in many of the towns, it is rarely working, despite promises that it will be fixed. It was acknowledged that this is the responsibility of DSRAC. “The department has made a provision in the budget to ensure that there is stable internet connectivity from the first quarter of the financial year” promised Nduna. “In addition to this, libraries are in the priority list of the provincial broadband that is managed by the Office of the Premier’ he concluded.
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