THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality wants to honour all the participants of the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics who hail from the city with a glitzy event.
And they want the sports, recreation, arts and culture committee to sign off on R120000 funding for the planned celebration.
The issue was discussed at a committee meeting yesterday.
The committee members, who support the idea, were less than thrilled with the lack of detail from the economic development and recreational services department, saying they should have been provided with a breakdown of how the money would be spent and a list of the people to be honoured
Committee chairwoman Babalwa Lobishe said: "We must take pride in the people who participated in the international competitions, but it's not right that we don't even know who are the sportsmen that go to the international events before they leave."
DA councillor Andrew Whitfield said the committee needed a list of names of the people who would be honoured.
"It's unacceptable to come to us with so little information and expect us to accept it.
"We need a breakdown of what the money will be spent on. But now we have no choice and we are forced to rush this," Whitfield said.
ANC councillor Xola Sabani said the last-minute request for funding of R120000 was an example of poor planning. "If you can plan properly in future, we can avoid such situations.
"Sports development is something we need to look at if we in Nelson Mandela Bay want to contribute to the Olympics in the future," Sabani said.
Both COPE councillor Mzwandile Hote and UDM councillor Mongameli Bobani said it was necessary to support events that would uplift young sportsmen.
The municipality will use R120000 from its coffers for the event and source funding through sponsorship should it cost more.
Several Bay sportsmen and women participated in the Olympics and Paralympics, including Banyana Banyana star Amanda Sister, open water swimming sensation Jessica Roux and Paralympic swimmer Kevin Paul.
Sportsmen and women who participated in other international events will also be honoured, such as Nkululeko Apleni, who claimed a silver medal in the Karate World Championships in Mexico City.
