Good afternoon, Goeie middag, dumelang.
Madam Speaker, this year, as a country we are celebrating 28 years of freedom. We are
celebrating on the ruins of apartheid and at the same time we are able to build a democratic,
non- racial and non-sexist South Africa. We have done a lot to build our dream country, and
yet, a lot still has to be done, keeping in mind that 28 years is a very short time in historical
terms.
Madam Speaker, as a country, from tomorrow the 1 st of June, we will be stepping into the
June Month. A month dedicated and designated as youth month. It is designated to
celebrate and commemorate the pitched battles fought fearlessly and gallantly by the young
people in Soweto and elsewhere in the country against the most brutal regime in recent
history. Today we are standing on the shoulders of those young people, some of whom paid
with their lives for us to be free.
As we celebrate this month fellow councilors, let us not forget the calls made by young
people during the recent public meetings and Mayoral Imbizos we had. The young people of
Ngwathe requested leadership from all of us. They request that we create opportunities for
them to be able to explore their talents and innovations. They request that we help them with
access to markets so that they can sell their products. These calls came from young people
involved in the Agricultural industry. They request that we allow them to showcase their
artistic talents by opening space in the music, dramatic and film industry.
Honorable Councillors, the young people of our area are requesting that we help them in
opening opportunities in the Vredefort dome heritage site. Young people have requested
that we build an innovation incubation hub so that they could use it to develop new business
ideas and develop their business. , Honorable Councilors we dare not fail in our mission to
make Ngwathe a place they can proudly call home. We must find time and space to head
their call.

Madam speaker agriculture, tourism and Arts, are sleeping economic giants that need to be
awakened, if we are serious about the Economic Development of Ngwathe. We are going to
establish an Investment attraction unit in the office of the Executive Mayor. The terms of
reference and composition of the unit will be unveiled in due course to council. These units
must help us to attract and bring the desired investment in all our towns constituting
Ngwathe to ensure job creation and the building of the economy. We are also excited to
announce that we are establishing a fully flashed Directorate for Local Economic
Development. This is how serious we are in dealing with the unemployment rate within
Ngwathe Municipality by creating opportunities for our communities.
Above all Madam Speaker, the trends in the whole country and globally points indicate its
direction to SMME’s as a way to go if we have to stimulate the economy, it is therefore
important that as a municipality we must embrace Township Economy. When we kick-start
the Township economy initiative, we need to engage all our stakeholders. These will help in
awith remedial action to tackle the problems. The challenge we face, honorable councillors,
is that most of our townships business owners, if not all, have surrendered their business to
foreigners nationals. I am raising this matter without sounding Xenophobic that we must
encourage our people to go back to their shops and tuckshops as these will be our base for
the development of Township Economy. It is about time that we make use of our biggest
assets mainly Mimosa Gardens in Parys, The Eerfs Dam in Heilbron and many more, The
AirDome in Parys by starting to get its Licence back and decide what the future will hold for
the community of Ngwathe in terms of Job Creation. What excites me more is the
engagement around the re-establishment of the Ngwathe Traffic Department and the official
handing over of the Fezile Dabi Stadium with the Provincial Departments; this will also help
with the revenue stream of the municipality.

Madam Speaker, we are living in the world of scientific and technological revolution that is
ushering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As the municipality, we cannot be found wanting.
We are going to investigate in the 2022/23 financial year, the possibility of rolling out WIFI
services in strategic areas such as libraries, community halls, multi-purpose centres.Once
the investigation is completed and we have all the facts at our disposal, we will have to then
roll out the implementation in the financial year 2023/2024.
We will roll out WIFI to our communities, so that they participate in the global digital
revolution. We are showing a high digital content and technology penetration as a society,
and we should take advantage of that. Honorable Councillors with a stable network
connection Ngwathe can become a place where most people can come and find a resting
place, COVID-19 has shown that work can now be done from the comfort of our homes, with
the two Golf Estates that we have in Parys it can be a great investment for those working
from home as we are a few kilometers away from the North West Province and Gauteng
Province. As the young ones say Madam Speaker, the future is only a click away. I know
Madam speaker that some may find this wave of technology difficult to comprehend, but we
are sure there is a need to move with time and adapt, otherwise we will be forcefully, altered
and deleted. These will be a direct response to calls made by our communities and young
people during the public meetings and Mayoral Imbizo.

Madam Speaker, we have also resolved at the lekgotla to seek partnership with institutions
of higher learning. We have identified 6 universities surrounding Ngwathe, namely University
of the Free State, University of the North West- Potchefstroom campus, University of
Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand and Vaal University of Technology. A multi-
party task team will be established to approach these universities to seek a partnership and
sign a memorandum of understanding. We seek these partnerships to enhance our capacity
in the field of Engineering, Water Technology, Urban Design, Technology, Good
Governance, Economics, Tourism, Arts and Culture, Agricultural technology etc. We will
seek a Memorandum of understanding with each of these universities based on specific
areas they are strong on. Research will have to be conducted to empower the multi-party
task team, which will be approaching these universities with knowledge and specific needs
of Ngwathe.

Honorable Councillors i will like to announce that we have started to prepare business plans
based on the priorities raised at our IDP meetings, which are mainly the issue around the
Water and Sanitation and Electricity challenges we faced with as the municipality, this
business plans will be submitted today to the Office of the Presidency seeking funding from
the Infrastructure South Africa Grant which seeks to help municipalities with the backlog of
service delivery. We will also put up a business plan that will have to deal with the Roads
and Storm water of the municipality, keeping Ngwathe Municipality Clean has become a top
priority for the cleanliness of our Towns will drive us closer to servicing our communities.
Madam Speaker, emanating from the IDP public consultation meetings and having
discussed thoroughly at the lekgotla, we have, after analysing the external environment,
developed and set out a long term vision, mission and values of the municipality. The Vision
sets out the kind of a municipality Ngwathe should be in for the longest term. We have also
developed 5 years’ strategic objectives which are the aims the municipality will like to
achieve in the next 5 years.
Madam Speaker allow me to present the Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic objectives we
seek to achieve in the next five years.
Our Vision Statement will be:
A viable municipality with inclusive economy, sustainable development and quality
services for all’
Whereas our Mission Statement will be:
To provide affordable and quality municipal services and address triple challenges of
poverty, unemployment and inequality, and promote sustainable development
through cooperative, strategic partnerships and innovation.
The values which will be our compass will be as follows:
Values Descriptions
Transparency We practice good governance, openness and strive to understand the needs of

our community at all times.

Commitment: We are dedicated to the services we render to the community. We are committed

to realize the objective of local government in South Africa.

Accountability: We respect and value our people and ensure that we are accountable and

responsible on all aspects of our work

Integrity We perform our work diligently with integrity and courage to ensure that our

communities are able to trust and believe in us.

Democracy We encourage adherence to the constitution of the country, by allowing

everybody to exercise their rights.

Perseverance We work with tolerance and patience in the service of our communities.

Honorable Councillors, the strategic objectives to inform our plans for the next 5 years will be
as follows:
o To ensure sustainable provision of safe, reliable and quality water to the community
o To ensure sustainable provision of electricity
o To ensure the provision of sustainable sanitation to the community
o To ensure the provision of trafficable roads and storm water
o To ensure provision of social services to communities
o To ensure environmental sustainability in Ngwathe
o To create an enabling environment that stimulates economic growth and create jobs
o To ensure effective organisational and management of human resources
o To ensure sound budgeting and accounting systems compliant with applicable
legislation
o To ensure a financially viable municipality
o To ensure effective management of municipal expenditure
o To ensure effective mitigation of risks to the municipality
o To ensure effective financial reporting compliant with applicable legislation
o To ensure good governance and participation of communities.

Madam Speaker, let it be noted that the 2022/23 Budget is linked to the IDP, we note that
this will be an unfunded budget mainly because of one of our Major Creditor which is Eskom,
we are currently in talks with them trying to find an amicable solution we would like to get
ourselves at a stage where we can fully serv ice the account but this will need the support
from all stakeholders. The Budget and IDP indicates the direction we are navigating to, in
achieving the following goals:
o Provision of sustainable and accessible basic services to all.
o Provision of a safe and healthy environment
o Promotion of economic growth and job creation
o Promotion of good governance, organisational development and sustainability
Madam Speaker and fellow councilors, the following constitute the key budget focus areas for
the 2022/23 financial year:
o Cost reduction to ensure affordable tariff
o Social support to those residents who cannot afford to pay for services
o Continuous infrastructure development to upgrade ageing networks as well as the
maintenance thereof
o Intensification of job creation activities through the implementation of capital projects,
expanded public works programme and the need to develop the Township Economy.
o Good governance and clean administration
o Continuous efforts to ensure high collections rates
o Our revenue base remains under pressure and needs to be expanded over the
medium term to sustain the financial position of the municipality

Madam speaker we once more call upon our residents to continue showing support
by prioritising payments of municipal services to build a better future and improve the
living conditions of residents.
Madam speaker the proposed revenue budget for the 2022/233 financial year is R
937 million, with the operational expenditure budget of R1,012 billion and a Capital
budget of R135 million.
Madam speaker Sanitation revenue for the financial year 2022/23 is projected at R
68.2 million. These represents an increase of R11, 9 Million from the 2021/22
financial year. Waste removal for the 2022/23 financial year is projected at R 54.7
million and these represent an increase of R 8,9 million as compared to the 2021/22
financial years.
Fellow councillors, for the 2021/22 financial year the Capital Budget was R135
million and it is informed by grants from Sector departments.
The budget allocation for employee costs for the 202/23 financial year totals R 266
million.
The 2022/23 budget for bulk purchases is R 353 million which is more by R76 million
as compared to 2021/22 financial year which amounted to R277 million.
The provision for debt impairment for the 2022/23 financial year equates to R96
million and increased from 2021/22 of R4, 4 million.
Finance charges which are charges on repayment of interest portion overdue to
creditors has been budgeted for R21 million for the 2022/23 financial year.
The new tariff increases are minimal and intended to recover costs. The following
summary of tariffs applied increase on 22/23 financial year are as follows:
o Water supply 6%
o Electricity 12, 8 % pending actual NERSA approval.
o Sewerage 6%
o Refuse 6%
o Rates and Taxes 4.8% (with rebates/discount on residential and 10% discount
on business)
o Cemeteries 6%
o Halls 6%
o All other sundries 6%
Madam speaker, the Salary and Wage Collective Agreement increase for the
2022/23 financial year as agreed by parties will be projected based on CPIX
Forecast of 4.8% with effect from 1 July 2022.
Bulk purchase on electricity increase of 9.6% and bulk purchase on Water increase
of 5.5%
Madam Speaker and fellow councillors, as I conclude, let us be mindful that there will
always be challenges and our needs remain many but our resources are unfortunately limited. As the ANC led Municipality, we remain committed to running a
clean, accountable and effective administration.
Madam speaker and fellow councillors I hereby present the 5-year Integrated
Development Plan and the 2022/23 Budget for Ngwathe Local Municipality based on
the development needs of our communities. I am optimistic about the future of
Ngwathe,as this Municipality will get itself out of the difficulties and become a model
Municipality which all of us can pride ourselves in. This can only happen when we
work together and not against each other by putting the interest of the community
first.
Working Together We Can Build Better Communities.

I THANK YOU