Opposition queries South African government over $70m annual AU funding

South Africa’s opposition party, Democratic Alliance (DA), has asked Ministers of Finance and International Relations and Cooperation to justify South Africa’s $70 million per year contribution to the African Union (AU).
The party, in a letter to the ministers on Monday, said South Africa’s contribution to the AU quadrupled by 2014, adding that there was possibility of the contribution increasing over the next few years.
The party, therefore, demanded clarity on who authorised the funding contribution and what the funds would be spent on.
Meanwhile, former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, while addressing the AU Summit, proposed that levies in airfare, hotel accommodation, hospitality and even SMS taxes be charged on South Africans.
However, Sandy Kalyan, DA Legislature, said the proposal has no basis as such taxes would place a further burden on an already overtaxed and economically strained population.
She said South Africa cannot afford the taxes, because the country was already facing a looming economic crisis.
Kalyan said the economy has only grown at less than two per cent over the past five years.