DA objects to Ugu’s R1 billion budget

Ugu District Municipality passed a R1 billion municipal budget for the 2022/2023 financial year on Thursday last week, despite the Democratic Alliance objecting to it.

Speaking at the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality council chambers, Ugu mayor Phumlile Mthiyane said the total budget amounts to R1 685 961 961 and has an allocation of R347 374 000 for the capital budget and R1 338 587 275 for the operational budget.

Mthiyane also said there is an approved tariff increase by council which is 6.5 % (R18.13) for water and sanitation services. She added that the increment will seriously impact their income position for the 2022/23 financial year since the year will require even more financial prudence.

“The 2022/2023 financial year tariff increases are driven by major broad considerations such as input costs from our suppliers. An Eskom tariff increase of 9.6% and Umgeni Water tariff increase of above 3% on bulk water supply and staff salary increment of 4.8% as the existing multi-year SALGBC salary agreement. To ensure financial sustainability, employee-related costs of the municipality require urgent attention as the continued increase thereof is a real threat to our financial viability,” said Mthiyane.

However, DA councillor Edwin Baptie said council should not increase tariffs, adding that they should rather increase their revenue from the use of water.

Baptie suggested that the municipality should install a water meter for every resident, so that every drop of water can be accounted for.

“We must bear in mind that a large proportion of our income is coming from the tariffs that we are going to increase. That 6.5% increase will impact only 10% of the citizens. With the fuel increases, people losing jobs, and businesses not making enough, I think the people who currently pay tariffs cannot afford the increase. At the moment, there is only a small percentage of our population that pays their tariffs. To compensate for the 6.5%, maybe in our monthly budgets, we can make a concentrated effort to increase revenue. There are many of our residents who do not have a meter and an account with the institution and we should be doing everything possible to put a meter. Whether the customer pays or not, in that way we can know what is coming out,” said Baptie.

Meanwhile, Mthiyane said they have also set aside R215 505 300 from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) for the water and sanitation infrastructure programme.

She said an additional amount of R93 902 868 from the equitable share will be spent to ensure the provision of basic water via the communal standpipes.

She added that R162 094 585 is allocated to subsidise the water tariff, saying that this is due to the difficult economic conditions that people within the district are facing.

Mthiyane also tabled the budget of the Ugu South Coast Tourism and South Coast Development Agency which has been approved by the respective entity boards.

She said for the amalgamated entity, R 30 529 814 has been set aside for the operational expenditure, adding that R21 650 402 has been allocated for the district’s tourism industry.

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