THE MDC-T-dominated Bulawayo City Council (BCC) last week turned down a request from the party to hold its 17th anniversary celebrations at White City Stadium for free.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
Latest council minutes reveal that the opposition party, on September 5, sought authority to use White City Stadium for free in a letter addressed to acting town clerk, Sikhangele Zhou.
“As a province, we have been favoured to host this annual event and it is our wish to host this event at the above-mentioned stadium since it is the most convenient for such programmes,” MDC-T’s letter to Bulawayo City Council read.
“We, therefore, kindly appeal that you allow us to use the stadium for free on the above date from 10am to 4pm.”
Councillors, however, turned down the request, citing council’s dire financial situation, and instead offered a 75% discount for the opposition party.
Part of the council minutes read: “In the past, council had granted free use of its facilities in respect of national events such as Independence and Heroes Day Celebrations. However, some applicants had been granted discounts (25%, 50% or 75%) depending on the nature of the event.
“Thereafter, it was resolved to recommend that the application by the MDC-T for free use of the White City Stadium for a celebratory event on October 1, 2016 be not acceded to and instead the organisation be offered a 75% rebate on the relevant hire charge, that is, to pay 25%.”
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MDC-T national organising secretary, Abednico Bhebhe, a fortnight ago, told Southern Eye that the opposition party was hard hit by the dire economic situation and could not afford lavish celebrations.
The MDC-T held its anniversary celebrations in Bulawayo last Saturday.
The council has also turned down a similar request for use of its facility by the Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment ministry for hosting a provincial youth expo on October 14.
City fathers instead also slashed the hire charges by 75%.