ActionSA councillors voted to support the City of Ekurhuleni adjustment budget during council proceedings today, despite a number of reservations, to stave off the total and complete arrest of service delivery provision.

If the adjustment budget was not approved, it would’ve risked the city’s financial sustainability and placed the administration in a precarious position. The alternative to not supporting the adjustments budget would have been catastrophic for the people of Ekurhuleni.

As a constructive opposition within the City of Ekurhuleni Council, ActionSA on a number of occasions, made representations to the DA-led administration on the service delivery priorities which needed to prioritised in the adjustment budget. 

However, the adjustment budget presented by the DA-led coalition government is irrational and at odds with the administration’s much-vaunted pro-poor agenda, reducing the budgets of a number of front facing departments. 

The coalition government decided to increase operating expenditure while the city’s capital budget declined by a staggering R113 million. 

Human Settlements had its budget slashed by R50 million, Water and Sanitation by R14 million, Transport by R44 million, Ekurhuleni Water Care Company (ERWAT) by R21 million and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) by R1.5 million.

These are critical service delivery departments which need greater support and management, but instead they are suffering the consequences of a coalition government which does not provide to the needs of residents. 

The DA-led coalition government also cannot blame a low rates and taxes coalition rate for the deductions in the adjustment budget as it was Mayor Tania Campbell who made statements that deterred residents who were paying from continuing pay while in Tembisa. 

ActionSA left the Ekurhuleni multi-party government at the beginning of November 2022 when it became clear that the service delivery needs of residents weren’t being prioritised and, in some cases, deteriorated under Campbell’s leadership.

As a constructive opposition in the City Ekurhuleni, ActionSA supported the adjustment budget in the best interest of the city’s residents, to ensure they continue receiving services, uninterrupted. But our reservations remain, and we will continue to lobby the DA-led government to make adjustments going forward. 

It is only through ethical leadership that prioritise the needs of residents that good governance can be restored across South Africa, and ActionSA will continue to champion these values in all the municipal councils it serves in. 

 

Issued by ActionSA COE Caucus Chairperson Tlhogi Moseki