Various political parties blasted the eThekwini Municipality’s adjustment budget, stating that ratepayers funds are being wrongfully allocated, with certain areas overfunded and others underfunded.
This was discussed during a full council meeting on Friday, 28 February following a postponement of council due to blackouts.
VF Plus councillor Henricus van der Ryst briefly touched on how costly meetings are following the council’s initial postponement. He referred to the ICC’s 2022 Annual Report, which indicated the government spent over R44 million across 128 government events – which equated to R345 603 per sitting. Based on the 2022 figures, the recent two meetings cost more than half a million rand.
In reference to water, he said: “Although water makes up the biggest part of this budget, we cannot cut from the water budget, as we have a water crisis. We need to prioritise issues. This coupled with the biggest burden of overtime, just shows the failure of the Revenue Management Services (RMS) system to manage our affairs. These systems need to be consolidated to see an overall view of the city’s finances with spending across spheres to enable prioritisation as required by the Municipal Chart of Accounts (MSCOA). The same goes for cleansing and solid waste as our river quality is atrocious,” van der Ryst said.
He added that electricity revenue was in a crisis; and needed critical attention, not budget cuts. “Close on the heels of overtime at R200 million, while we have unfilled vacancies, is contractor maintenance and litigation. We have offered local solutions but common sense is not forthcoming, as the ANC knows it will reveal their flaws of mismanagement, if we have comprehensive data integration insights,” he said.
DA councillor Yogis Govender said this budget falls short in several critical areas and fails to provide a sustainable path forward. She said: “The allocation of only R300 million for electricity is insufficient to meet the growing demands of our city, leaving us vulnerable to power outages and disruptions. Additionally, the failed RMS system, which cost R23 million, and the litigation expenses, amounting to R12 million, are further examples of financial mismanagement that have drained valuable resources from essential services.”
Govender spoke on R200.5 million for overtime and said this was a glaring indication of the municipality’s reliance on temporary solutions rather than addressing the root cause of staff shortages. She said this excessive overtime expenditure, compared to the significant number of vacant posts, highlights a mismanagement of resources that could be better utilised to fill permanent positions and improve service delivery.
Govender added that residents will see nothing tangible on the streets while the city will no doubt say these are progressive. Additionally, residents are outraged; and emotionally and financially drained with the chaos that envelopes this Municipality with no end in sight.
ActionSA Caucus Whip, councillor Musa Kubheka, said the party understands the importance of approving the adjustment budget, however they were concerned regarding water unit adjustments. He said: “We raised issues about money taken away from water on budget. We cannot support the adjustment budget because there’s a water crisis around our Municipality especially in the Tongaat, Umlazi and Inanda areas. Some of these adjustments will not resolve some of the serious issues we are facing, especially the water crisis if the adjustment is not addressed.”
The budget revealed the operating budget for water at R400 million; electricity was allocated R426 million. The capital budget includes R378 million allocated for sanitation infrastructure, followed by roads and stormwater infrastructure with an allocation of R197 million while R121 million has been allocated for health and social services. This adjustment budget also comprises R146 million allocated for new projects across various service delivery units.
