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Cape Town – The National Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) on Tuesday demanded that state entities pay back nearly R11m spent on 2010 World Cup tickets in defiance of a government ban on purchasing match seats with public funds.

"Our union finds it totally unacceptable that our townships are burning because of poor service delivery and millions go hungry everyday, yet the overpaid state bureaucrats are stealing the taxpayer's money to watch soccer," Nehawu said.

"We call on the auditor general to investigate this violation of the Public Finance Management Act.

"We demand the immediate reimbursement of the public and for the ministers of these departments to account and also act against anyone found to have acted inappropriately."

The government said last week that it had ordered departments not to splurge on match seats for the world's biggest sporting event, with the exception of sports and international relations.

The National Treasury warned that officials who signed off on World Cup ticket purchases could face charges of financial misconduct and irregular expenditure in terms of the Public Finance Management Act.

Budget funds allocated

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has reportedly asked Auditor-General Terence Nombembe to watch out for budget funds allocated to ticket buying when the audits for the 2009/10 financial year start.

However, it has emerged that various departments forked out a total of R10.9m for tickets.

The cash-strapped SABC spent R3.3m on 2 000 tickets for the tournament, signal regulator Sentech spent R1.7m on 96 tickets, and the SA Post office spent R800 000 on 500 tickets.

The department of public service and administration paid R65 400 for 25 tickets to World Cup matches

Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor conceded on Monday that her department bought 10 quarter-final tickets as incentives for employees at a price R25 200.

She also revealed that the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) had bought 17 tickets for Wednesday's Group A match between South Africa and Uruguay, and the Chile-Spain clash in Pretoria on June 25. The tickets cost R314 990.

The department of trade and industry spent a further R4.7m on seats for the tournament and the department of tourism paid R918 973 for 180 tickets.