Opposition rejects Ekurhuleni budget

TARIFF increases and comparisons with the Democratic Alliance (DA)run Midvaal municipality characterised discussions on the City of Ekurhuleni’s budget yesterday.

The DA rejected the R26.5bn budget delivered by mayoral committee for finance member Moses Makwakwa, arguing that it would not improve service delivery.

But the African National Congress (ANC) insisted that it would “transform the economy of the metro”. ANC councillor Mafu Yamba said the budget reflected the ANC’s commitment to improving the quality of life in the metro — one of three in Gauteng — and therefore she was unsurprised that the DA would reject it.

DA caucus leader Shelley Loe, in rejecting the budget, said the metro consistently failed to “take constructive advice”, or learn from the “award winning” Midvaal munic- ipality, which has an unemployment rate of 11%. Ms Loe said the budget would accelerate the decline in service delivery, as well as “speed up your downfall”.

The ANC dismissed comparisons between the “agricultural” Midvaal, saying it was not a destination for job seekers, nor was it a metro.

The political parties also disagreed on the increase in tariffs, which have been pegged above inflation.

DA spokesman for finance Eddie Taylor said the budget had “gone overboard” in the average tariff increase of 17.64%”.

He said with the effect of valuations, up to 30% of business and industrial customer could experience rate increases “in excess of 50%”.

However, Ms Yamba said the metro had kept the cost of the electricity increase below the 7.5% recommended by the National Energy Regulator of SA.