Metro under-spending on development grants, says DA
The DA has accused the Tshwane metro of under-spending its grant for development projects.
Andrew Ngozo
The Tshwane metro has been accused of severely under-spending on funds received from national- and provincial governments and other sources.
This, said the DA, meant that much needed services and developments were withheld from the community.
DA councillor Christo Van Den Heever said the grant and subsidies report for the period ended 31 October, showed that the metro particularly under-spent on the urban settlements development grant (USDG), public transport infrastructure and systems (PTIS) and neighbourhood development partnership projects.
“The department of housing and human settlement only spent 6% of its allocation, transport spent 12% and electricity only 29%. This means the metro spent only 16% of its allocation,” he said.
The Tshwane metro only spent 17% of its PTIS allocation, said Van den Heever.
“Last month, the metro received R7.6 million from the provincial government for use towards sport and recreation. We have libraries but strangely no spending was incurred. This, to say the least, arouses many questions,” he said, adding that a R15 million grant received for a social infrastructure project in Hammanskraal was unused.
“Such a series of events reflects on Tshwane as a metro that does not learn from its previous shortcomings regarding the lack of progress in spending grants and subsidies,” said Van den Heever.
That development grants were being under-spent, was a disservice to the Tshwane metro residents, asserted Van den Heever.
“The people of this metro have lost faith in an administration that cannot spend money it is given. At the same time, they go out to markets to borrow money on which the metro must pay interest. That is an exercise in futility,” he said.
“By not spending these monies, progress is hampered by a metro that is seemingly becoming exceedingly disconnected from its citizens,” said Van den Heever.
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