R57m set aside to revitalise Alice
ELECTRICITY and the revitalisation of small towns was at the centre of discussions during Raymond Mhlaba mayor Bandile Ketelo’s state of the municipality address at a packed municipal multi-purpose centre in Middledrift yesterday.
Ketelo said the municipality owed Eskom about R80-million and was paying R10-million a month to settle the debt that was inherited before Nxuba and Nkonkobe municipalities were amalgamated.
“All this is taking place at a time when our electricity infrastructure is old and needs urgent attention. At the moment, we have an agreement with Eskom where we agreed that they will collect all the revenue from our newly installed smart meters for the next three years to pay off the debt and after that, revenue will be collected by the municipality,” said Ketelo.
For the new financial year, high mast lights and new electrical infrastructure has been allocated R6.5-million, Ketelo said.
The local authority is regarded as a rural and agricultural municipality with some of its revenue being collected from agricultural and tourism industries. The unemployment rate is 47% while the poverty rate is at 39% in the municipality.
According to Ketelo, Alice, which is home to the University of Fort Hare, is in a process to be revitalised to an educational and economic hub of the municipality, with R57-million set aside to revamp the town.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the university to collaborate on the provision of student and staff accommodation; and development of the anti-crime and safety strategy for students,” said Ketelo.
He said that the municipality was in a process of appointing service providers to develop student hostels, which will result in “over R1.5-billion investment in our municipality”.
The municipality’s budget amounts to R397-million and its operating amounts are at R361-million.
Earlier this year, the Double Drift Game Reserve in Middledrift handed over its land ownership to people of rural areas in the surrounding areas. According to Ketelo, the department of environmental affairs allocated R6million to keep the reserve functioning. —