GMM residents still await answers to questions about draft budget
AfriForum and residents want answers from Govan Mbeki Municipality.
Residents posed many questions to the Govan Mbeki Municipality after the IDP meetings in April and they are still waiting for answers after the budget had been passed last week.
A concerned resident wrote a list of questions which the chairperson of AfriForum’s Secunda branch Jan du Plessis hand-delivered to the municipality. Du Plessis also sent the letter via email.
Du Plessis said the resident had valid points that influence the municipality’s budget and it needs urgent attention. The resident asked how the municipality determines who qualifies for the social package.
“Which documentation must be provided and what checks are done to ensure that the package is available to the really needy, and not to the ‘so-called needy?
ALSO CHECK: Residents in Govan Mbeki Municipality see red at IDP meetings
“Does this package make provision for the senior citizens that only have their pension fund as an income?” asked the resident in her letter.
She also asked what caused the adjustment of R202 337 in operating leases according to the IDP meeting held in April.
She then addressed the issue of councillors of Govan Mbeki Municipality with outstanding municipal accounts.
“How will this money be recovered? Are there any arrangements made by the councillors to pay?
“There was an adjustment made of R75.7m on the remuneration of the councillors, what caused this adjustment?” asked the resident in her letter.
She further wanted to know what happened to the request for lifestyle audits on all municipal employees and council members.
“In the draft budget, there are amounts budgeted for the services of professional staff. That cost can be cut if the municipality recruits their own personnel and employ them directly. They budgeted R6.68m for the maintenance of roads.
“When will the work on the roads begin and which roads will be repaired? What is the planning and is the planning available for viewing?”
Among several more questions and issues, she also asked why Secunda, Trichardt and Bethal were not included in the budget for repairs and construction or upgrading of water supply and why no provision was made in the draft budget to pay back Eskom and Rand Water.
The Ridge Times send the letter to Govan Mbeki Municipality and will publish their response in the next edition.
