R1.7bn budget for CH

R620m set aside for infrastructure projects

he Chris Hani District Municipality adopted a R1.7bn budget for the 2020/21 financial year, a document which was also given the nod by the provincial treasury department after an assessment was conducted.

The budget and the integrated development plan (IDP) were also presented via Vukani Community Radio for public participation, a trend CHDM mayor Wongama Gela claimed was a first in SA until it became popular.

The overall budget is made up of the operational budget of a little more than R1bn and the capital budget of R620m, which focuses on the operations and running of the municipality, including salaries.

Gela said about 30% of the operational budget came from the equitable share, which funded the municipality s capital projects.

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The expanded public works programme

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[EPWP] is also funded from this budget, for which we have set aside more than R6m. This is an increment from the previous

“year, which was R4m.

There are specific programmes and

“projects from the integrated planning and economic development [Iped] directorate projects which include the revitalisation of the town, supporting small businesses, crop and beef production and others.”

Gela boasted that the budget did not have a deficit, but instead a surplus, compared with previous budgets over the years.

He also admitted to the municipality s

’ revenue collection challenges, which led it to set the bar quite low in the budget document. We usually have challenges with revenue

“collection and, as a result, the budget is based on a projected 15% collection rate.

We do our ultimate best to collect more

“than the projected rate in terms of our billing. It will not be long until we do our

“adjustment budget because we can foresee there are areas where we could receive additional income, but we wanted to be reasonable and realistic for this budget - hence our low projections.”

The mayor said the R620m would be focused on infrastructure projects like sanitation and water provision.

About R120m has been set aside for infrastructure maintenance and operations to mitigate service delivery issues.

The office of the mayor has since

“established the infrastructure working group that meets once a week on Mondays to follow up on all issues raised by residents,” said Gela.

The municipality also received R3m from the national disaster management centre to focus on Covid-19 related programmes.

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