ANC leader accuses Tshwane’s mayor of lying

ANC caucus leader in Tshwane Mapiti Matsena has accused mayor Solly Msimanga of lying by announcing that the municipal property rates have been reduced.

Matsena was speaking ahead of the budget speech debate yesterday at the Sammy Marks council chamber. He scoffed at Msimanga’s speech, saying it was full of contradictions.

“The mayor in his budget speech preamble said there won’t be substantive increases on tariffs, including rates, yet he continued to make announcements of exorbitant increases,” Matsena said.

He said a budget of R1.3 billion set aside for the maintenance of infrastructure would benefit residents in the suburbs and not those in the townships.

“Msimanga failed to introduce the new projects the DA promised during the municipal elections campaign last year,” he said.

This was because he “doesn’t want to bring projects that the city can’t afford”.

According to Matsena, the DA-led administration would only complete projects started by the previous ANC administration.

During his budget speech, Msimanga announced that electricity would increase 1.8%, water 10.2% and refuse removal 7.5%.

“It is important to note that water and electricity tariffs are mainly influenced by the Rand Water and Eskom tariffs respectively,” he said.

EFF leader Benjamin Disoloane hinted at wanting the 23 000 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) job opportunities to be addressed.

The EFF has previously said it wanted Msimanga to create permanent jobs for EPWP workers.

Msimanga said: “One thing that I said to all political parties is that when you want to implement something, you need to calculate its cost and think of its viability in the long run.”

His spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said the budget was fully funded and financially viable. “Msimanga delivered a pro-poor budget speech and gave specific details on how this administration will turn the finances of the city around to create jobs through revitalising the city’s economy and cutting corruption…” he said.

He added the city was confident the budget had paved a way to stabilise, revitalise and deliver services by attracting investment and creating jobs.