The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) council approved the 2025/26 Adjustment Budget and Adjusted Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan at a meeting held in Germiston on March 10.

According to the Executive Mayor, Ald Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, the adjustment includes an increase in the city’s repairs and maintenance budget.

An additional R239m has been allocated, thus increasing the budget from R3.865b to R4.379b. Xhakaza says this change will help improve service delivery, including restoring municipal facilities, infrastructure reliability and the working conditions of frontline workers.

Overall, the CoE’s operating revenue increases by R829.9m to R66.325b, while operating expenditure increases by R784.8m to R65.629b. He added that the budget also directs new resources to infrastructure and operational priorities that matter to residents.

These include:

• Urban Development Financing Grant for Trading Services (Energy Department) – R113.1m
• ICT projects (fibre, ICT equipment, security for ICT, WiFi nodes, the COIDA system and data centres) – R115m
• The aging fleet in Energy – R12m
• Procurement of two graders for Community Services – R8m
• Completion of Duduza Customer Care area project – R5m

Xhakaza said the budget also increases bursaries by R8m, bringing the total bursary budget to R15m. “The approval of the adjustment budget by council is a clear demonstration that Ekurhuleni is moving with purpose and stability.

“This council decision gives effect to our renewal agenda by directing resources where they are needed most: repairs and maintenance, ageing infrastructure, frontline service delivery, ICT modernisation and operational recovery.

“It means we can now intensify rapid repairs and strengthen Fixing the Frontline, and continue building a capable municipality that works for our people. We take this as a mandate for decisive implementation,” Xhakaza said.