Tshwane turns to surplus
The City of Tshwane, excluding the municipal entities, is no longer in deficit, mayor Solly Msimanga says.
The metro’s unaudited financial statements at the end of the 2016-17 year showed it had a surplus of revenue over expenditure of R635m, he said.
When Msimanga took over the reins, as executive mayor of the metro, it was in deficit of more than R2bn.
The city has an operating budget of R30bn for this financial year, with R3.9bn budgeted for capital expenditure.
Msimanga said this was achieved by tightening financial controls over expenditure in line with the amounts appropriated in the approved budget for 2016-17. “We began by optimising procurement processes to derive value for money, instituting stringent budget controls and identifying and eradicating wasteful expenditure,” he said.
Unauthorised expenditure declined, from R1.6bn in 201516, to R634m in 2016-17.
The city spent R3.1bn out of the budgeted R4.4bn of its capital expenditure budget. It included R950m earmarked for the payment of assets relating to the smart meter project. The payment was put on hold pending the outcome of the legal challenge on the validity of the original smart meter contract.
Meanwhile, the city said on Thursday it had approached the High Court in Pretoria to set aside the Tshwane Broadband contract with Thobela Telecoms on the grounds that the previous administration had entered into the contract unlawfully. The auditor-general found in November 2016 that the deal, worth R2.736bn, was irregular. This finding prompted the administration to investigate the procurement of the deal.