Endumeni’s R310-million 2017/18 budget was passed at a Council meeting but not without controversy.
The ANC has claimed that the passing of the budget was procedurally flawed, as Mayor Richard Mbatha should have first presented the budget before the document was proposed and seconded.
Councillor Hope Xaba told the meeting that ”the budget should not be passed as Councillors had not been given any chance to see the final draft and that the motions that the party had tabled had still not been heard as there has not been a full Council meeting for some months’. He left the Chamber after making the speech. Two ANC Councillors and one DA Councillor were absent from the meeting. Later, the three remaining ANC Councillors left the meeting. However, that was before the Mayor proposed the passing of the budget which was seconded by Councillor Zitha.

“The ANC is yet to swallow its pride after losing control of Endumeni.”

ANC Chief Whip Lucky Khumalo told the Courier that they were concerned that the budget did not include issues raised by those attending the Ward 7 roadshow meeting. He also questioned as to how the budget could be passed before the Mayor had presented the document. He said the ANC would be reporting the matter to the MEC.
Speaker Bongiwe Mbatha-Makhathini rejected the accusations out of hand. “The ANC is yet to swallow its pride after losing control of Endumeni. They are trying to frustrate the workings of this Council and in doing so they are putting service delivery at risk and ignoring the aspirations of their voters. They wanted us to miss the May 31-budget deadline in the hope that the MEC will put the municipality under administration. But they failed.” She told the Courier that all Councillors had been given ample time to give input into the budget with a series of public meetings covering all seven wards.
“There was also a Budget Steering Committee meeting on May 26 where all the final inputs would have been given. Again, only the ANC’s Councillor Zwane attended but he did not participate.”
“Service delivery is first on the agenda”
Acting Corporate Services Manager, Mr Mosia, said the budget had been emailed to all Councillors prior to the meeting. “It is incorrect to say that Councillors were not given an opportunity to see the final budget before the meeting.” He added that concerns raised at the Ward 7 budget meeting in Glencoe had been included where possible, as had all other inputs from the other Wards. “This was a two-month process. Obviously, financial constraints are a factor but we have included as many concerns as possible. Any Councillor who was at the Budget Steering Committee meeting would have realised this.”
Asked about the threat to report the matter to the MEC, Speaker Mbatha-Makhathini said, ‘they are welcome to do that but she will find everything was done procedurally.’ She added that she may also have to report the behaviour of the Councillors who ‘walk out of meetings without permission from the Speaker or the chairman of the meetings’.

The theft of electricity, running at about R11-million for the first eight months of the current financial year

“This is against procedure and is a way of disrupting meetings.” Asked about accusations that ‘no ordinary Council meetings had been held where the ANC wants to present motions’, Speaker Mbatha-Makhathini said legislation called for ordinary Council meetings to be held quarterly. We will hold an ordinary meeting before June but we are still within deadline.”
At the budget meeting, Mayor Mbatha highlighted that service delivery was first on the agenda as was the fight against corruption. He also pointed out that the theft of electricity, running at about R11-million for the first eight months of the current financial year, was crippling the Council’s finances. He said the Council was committed to taking up this challenge. He also announced a Capital Budget of around R126-million and electrification programmes valued at around R9-million which will see ‘all of Endumeni have access to power’. Some of these projects are being ‘front loaded’ on the budget which means service providers will be paid over two financial years to ensure the Council has enough funds and in that way fast track development.