Council puts seal of approval on budget
THE SOL Plaatje City Council yesterday rubber-stamped the approval of a record budget for the city of R1.74 billion. Major emphasis in the budget is placed on roads and stormwater infrastructure, as well as the upgrading of the electricity network.
In her address on the budget, the Executive Mayor, Agnes Ntlhangula, pointed out that this year the budget process was more transparent and everyone was given an opportunity to have their say at public meetings, which were well attended.
“All comments made regarding the budget were analysed with the aim of including all views that were possible in the final document. As a result the operational and capital budget was tweaked to include increases in allocations to library services, increased allocation to speed up the development of the midlands substation, ablution facilities at the new artificial turf in Galeshewe, we brought forward the project to install new high-lift pumps at Riverton water works, a renewed focus on war on leaks with the aim of assisting indigents to reduce their water bills, and the electrification of the Diamond Park informal settlement as well as various infill areas.”
Ntlhangula also said that many of the comments made at the budget meetings focused on the problem of potholes, developments required in informal settlements, housing needs, the impact of flood conditions experienced in the Sol Plaatje Municipal area, the need to improve conditions in the flats, non-functional street lights and other service-related concerns.
She pointed out that many of these issues had already been factored into the budget and the IDP over the three-year budget cycle.
“For example, the intervention in the road network and upgrade of flats as well as the upgrade of informal settlements have been included. Some new requests are now included in the budget as well, such as the town planning arrangements at Ivory Park.”
She stated that the problem with street lights would also soon be addressed because the council had recently taken delivery of two vehicles, known as boom trucks, which would enable municipal teams to replace street light bulbs faster.
“As soon as the legalities of licensing and installation of tracking devices are finalised, the vehicles will be put into action in the next few weeks.”
Ntlhangula pointed out that comments made on the budget during the consultation process by some councillors that the budget did not speak to the needs of society and were incorrect and ill-informed.
She pointed out that the budget outlined the municipality’s focus on capital investments, informal settlement upgrades and reducing waste.
She also referred to statements that industry and individuals pay the same tariffs.
“This is not true. Commercial tariffs are higher than those of individual residents. This has been the case for several years and is dictated by law.
“What is true is that in our city domestic households outnumber commercial users by far, resulting in cross-subsidisation not being as effective as in industrial hubs such as Johannesburg.”
Turning her attention to the unfunded mandates (like primary health care services, libraries and resorts), she said the matter had been put on the agenda for serious discussion and resolution and processes were under way in this regard.
“It would, however, be irresponsible to simply terminate services. If we do that, it will be the residents who will suffer.”
Ntlhangula added that the impact of IBT (Inclining Block Tariff, which will see consumers paying more for electricity as their consumption increased) still had to be determined.
“Remember SPM was one of few municipalities that was exempted from IBT and we were allowed to apply different tariffs structures. But the ill-informed objections lodged by some members in the business sector and even opposition members in this chamber, resulted in Nersa insisting that IBT be introduced from July.
“You cannot now come ask that it be cancelled. In the meantime, we have submitted our proposals to Nersa and we await a decision.”
Ntlhangula stressed that it was agreed that the municipality was too dependent on grant funding for its capital programmes.
“After considerable discussion and debate we agreed on a strategy which aimed to restore the financial stability of this institution as a first step. Once a certain threshold is reached we can reintroduce surpluses for capital injection and improve infrastructure investment. Thus, for the first time in our history, we are able to increase our own contribution to capital from R10 million to about R90 million.
“The aim is to use income for the benefit of society at large. It is because of this that we could avail additional resources to upgrade some of our roads.”