Adopted budget ‘unlawful’
At the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality's special council meeting on Monday 29 June, the proposed budget for 2020/2021 was adopted by 13 votes to 11.
The meeting was not without controversy and the DA has rejected the result as being unlawful.
After the 23 present (12 ANC and 11 DA) had signed in to the virtual meeting, DA caucus leader Danie Bezuidenhout, rejected the budget on behalf of his party, claiming that it had been drawn up without councillors being aware of the state of the municipality’s finances at the end of the current financial year.
Bezuidenhout cited the unaffordability of the 6% increase in rates and services for farmers, businesses and ratepayers, and claimed that no answers were given at the open days, where suggestions were just put into a box. He also mentioned the request by National Treasury to limit tariff increases to an affordable level. Tito Mboweni’s budget figure of a 3% inflation rate was quoted and the DA requested local rates and services thus be increased by 3%.
The mayor then requested a short break to caucus and on returning to the meeting, an extra ANC councillor had joined the meeting, and the proposal to adopt the budget was put to the vote. When it was passed by 13-11, speaker Thembisa Nonnies, announced that the budget was approved.
However, Bezuidenhout objected and declared the result unlawful. "According to Section 160(3)(b) of the Constitution, a budget must be passed by a majority of councillors in the council, which means that irrespective of how many were present, 14 councillors must agree and vote in favour,” he explained. “Only 13 voted in favour of the budget.”
Speaker Nonnies sought legal opinion from the municipal manager, then reiterated that the proposal had been accepted, and did not allow the objection. Bezuidenhout is adamant to take the matter further.
"National Treasury will be informed, as will the MEC and Minister of COGTA through my colleagues in the provincial and national spheres," said Samantha GrahamMaré, MP for the DBNLM constituency. "The mayor and speaker are under pressure because the budget must be passed before the start of the new financial year, so they are attempting to push this budget through even if it's done in contravention of the Constitution. We cannot allow such blatant disregard for the law."
On Monday afternoon, mayor Deon de Vos issued a statement, explaining the serious difficulties encountered by the municipality since amalgamation, coupled with the drought and recent Covid-19 crisis. “We were very cautious not to overburden our taxpayers,” he said, explaining that already the municipality is unable to collect its rates and taxes, and unemployment is rising daily. De Vos added that the 8% increase in the draft budget had been reduced to 6%, in recognition of the concerns of the community.
He promised to improve the debt collection rate to enable the municipality to pay its many creditors and to cap labour costs in line with the budget. He also offered a debt incentive scheme, whereby 50% of all debt incurred before June would be written off.