While all eyes will be on the national Budget this week as the national financial year ends today with a cloud of uncertainty still hanging over it, by contrast things are promising with respect to the City of Tshwane’s budgeting process.
ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont commended Mayor Nasiphi Moya and her governing coalition for the “carefully considered” and fully-funded draft budget that supports vulnerable residents while restoring fiscal discipline and shielding residents from excessive tariff increases beyond inflation.
“Most importantly, the City should be commended for reducing property rates by a full 4% in light of the new valuations roll. This stands in stark contrast to the failing GNU national budget, which will dig deeper into the pockets of South Africans to fund its excesses,” Beaumont said in a statement.
In a joint statement, the coalition consisting of the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, AIC, DOP, PA, PAC, ATM, and GOOD hailed the draft budget showing some effort to soften the rates and tariff blow on residents.
“We are also relieved to note that this Coalition Government looks to be keeping all tariffs in line with inflation and absorbing some of the costs to soften the blow on residents. We are also very encouraged to see that the City has reduced the property rates by 4%,” said the coalition.
In the draft budget both the electricity and water tariffs are kept below the increases proposed by Eskom and Rand Water, with the City absorbing some of the costs.
However, in terms of the proposed budget tabled last week for public participation, residents will still have to pay more in rates and services, despite the attempts to minimise the pain.
Among the proposed increases are a 12% tariff hike for electricity, which is slightly lower than the 12.74% increment approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for Eskom, a 13% water tariff hike, below Rand Water’s 15.3%, and a 5% increase for rates.
The DA, the party previously in charge of the City, poured cold water on the budget claiming it did not “speak of good governance” and placed the burden of rescuing the City’s finances on residents.
“The ANC/ActionSA/EFF government in Tshwane is excited to table a funded budget, but in reality they are tabling a budget that does not speak of good governance, rather it put the onus of the city’s financial rescue mission on the residents of Tshwane."
“The DA has raised concerns on the newly introduced tax for waste removal, called a city cleansing levy, and while it is uncertain who exactly this tax will be levied to, what is clear is that the introduction of this tax could have been avoided,” said Cllr Jacqui Uys, the party’s finance spokesperson in the council.
The Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya said the draft budget sets out a clear and strategic financial plan to reinforce service delivery, promote economic growth, and maintain long-term fiscal stability.
While this year’s “pivotal” fully-funded draft budget has been widely praised, no one is claiming that it will fix all the City’s deep financial problems.
Beaumont said the draft budget is by no means a “silver bullet” for the City’s finances which will take time to fix, but provides a foundation for expanding and improving service delivery.
“Whilst ActionSA welcomes this carefully considered budget, we recognise that it is not a silver bullet. Fixing Tshwane will require a series of sound decisions and excellence in executing this budget over time. However, this draft budget serves as the foundation from which Mayor Moya and her coalition team will expand dependable and effective service delivery to all residents,” he said.