According to the report, 300m rand ($22m; £16m) was redirected from a development fund to help with costs.

It had been earmarked for things like “sanitation, the replacement of mud schools and the refurbishment of hospitals,” the report stated.

Instead, the authorities allegedly spent it on items like $24 T-shirts.

Allegations of misuse first emerged in 2014, months after Mr Mandela’s funeral in Qunu, Eastern Cape, in December 2013, which was attended by heads of state from around the world.

Now, nearly four years after Mr Mandela’s death at the age of 95, the country’s public protector, Busi Mkhwebane, has asked President Jacob Zuma to pursue the allegations further using the special investigations unit.

The 300-page report describes how officials in the Eastern Cape pocketed funds, ignored basic rules, and inflated costs.

Ms Mkhwebane described the failure to follow regulations on the spending of public money as “very scary” and “appalling”, according to South Africa’s Mail&Guardian newspaper.

“It is very concerning that we can use a funeral to do such things,” she told a press conference. “How do you charge or escalate prices or even send an invoice for something you have not delivered?”

Ms Mkhwebane said disorganisation had a role to play in the misuse, but also hit out at how South Africa’s ruling ANC party had apparently issued instructions to officials on how the money should be spent.

“There are invoices we are showing with letterheads from the ANC. And monies were paid but again services were not rendered,” she was quoted as saying by South Africa’s EyeWitness News.

She added: “We are hopeful whoever has committed these acts will be taken to task.”

This is not the first scandal to surround official events commemorating the apartheid struggle hero’s life.

The man tasked with providing a sign language interpretation at the memorial service was accused of making up gestures, while a fight for control over Mandela’s legacy within his own family mired the last months of his life.

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Source: BBC

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The scheduled announcement was made ahead of the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

China has been modernising its armed forces recently as its economy expands.

China’s announced defence budget remains smaller than that of the US. But many China observers argue the real figure could be much higher.

The announcement marks the second consecutive year that the increase in China’s defence spending has been below 10% following nearly two decades at or above that figure.

It means that total spending will account for about 1.3% of the country’s projected GDP in 2017, the same level as in recent years, said government spokeswoman Fu Ying.

The precise figure for the country’s military spending will be provided by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang when he addresses the NPC on Sunday.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said he was seeking to boost defence spending by 10% in his proposed budget for 2018.

China’s military build-up – and projection of naval power – has caused concerns in the region, where it has taken an increasingly assertive stance in territorial disputes.

Beijing has been building artificial islands on reefs in waters also claimed by other nations in the South China Sea.

Images published late last year show military defences on some islands, a think-tank says.

Defending its right to build, China has said in the past that it has no intention of militarising the islands, but has acknowledged building what it calls necessary military facilities for defensive purposes.

There have been sporadic incidents between US and Chinese ships in the South China Sea. Late last year, a Chinese ship seized a US navy underwater drone off the Philippines, but later agreed to return it.

Chinese ships have also been involved in clashes and stand-offs with ships from Vietnam and the Philippines.

Japan signed off a record defence budget last December in the face of territorial disputes with China in the East China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

In Beijing, Ms Fu said on Saturday that China advocated “dialogue for peaceful resolutions, while at the same time, we need to possess the ability to defend our sovereignty and interests”.

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Source: BBC

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