Budget cuts sought to fund city police
THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality will ask council to approve a budget of R3.3-million to fund the establishment of the metro police force, which was not budgeted for.
This means several departments will have to scale back on some service delivery projects to be able to fund the 900-member force that will enforce municipal bylaws.
This comes after the DA warned against the appointment of Pinkie Mathabathe to head the force, saying it would be fruitless and wasteful expenditure as her position did not appear in the municipality’s organogram.
In an internal memorandum to city manager Mpilo Mbambisa and acting or executive directors, dated March 11, acting chief financial officer Barbara de Scande said R3.35-million was required for the force’s basic operational costs.
She proposed that departments scale down their budgets with amounts ranging from R1.28-million for electricity and energy, to R20 000 for special programmes and projects.
The proposals included, among other cuts, public health R313 000; water services R260 000; budget and treasury R245 000; infrastructure rates and general R197 000; sanitation services R193 000; corporate services R180 000; safety and security R171 000; human settlements R166 000; and recreation and culture R99 000.
De Scande wrote: “. . . as per the instruction of the city manager, directorates are requested to provide item numbers within their revised operating budget against which sacrifices can be made equivalent to what is required . . .”
On Tuesday, DA safety and security portfolio committee member Gustav Rautenbach said the party wanted mayor Ben Fihla to explain what the money would be used for. Safety and security portfolio committee boss Thembinkosi Mafana said the money was earmarked to buy uniforms and vehicles and pay the force.
De Scande wrote that the departments needed to indicate the implications of the cuts as the proposal had to be taken to council for approval. But the item is not on today’s council meeting agenda.