The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)-led Jozini local municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal drew ridicule on social media on Friday after pictures of its councillors opening a gravel road with fanfare started doing the rounds.
The two kilometre strip of access road cost the municipality R4,7 million to build, and it was first mooted in March this year.
The road is located in the area of Sidakeni and it was built after the local community requested the municipality to build it as there was none before.
The "opening ceremony" was presided over by the exco (executive committee) of the council on Thursday afternoon.
When the pictures started doing the rounds, attention shifted to how much the municipality paid for the gravel road, which some likened to a traditional pathway in a rural village.
As the ridicule gained momentum, the mayor of the municipality, Mfananaye Mathe, was forced to issue a statement to clarify that the R56 million prize tag circulated online was malicious and false.
Others claimed that the municipality paid R10 million for the project, and Mathe dismissed that claim as well.
"We allocated R4,742 367.16 for this road; I challenge anyone with contrary information to produce it.
“These lies are aimed at tarnishing the image of the IFP-led municipality,” Mathe said in a statement on Friday.
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