Ward 66 councillor gives perspective on 2014/15 eThekwini budget

WITH the implementation of the 2014/15 eThekwini budget, ward 66 councillor, Duncan Du Bois believes it is timely and topical to engage in some perspectives concerning the budget and its appropriations.

“One of the enduring questions posed by ratepayers is whether their contributions to the coffers are equitably reciprocated in terms of service delivery. Coupled with that, is the tendency to compare the Bluff with Durban North or Umhlanga. To dispense with the latter, what needs to be appreciated is that Umhlanga has a huge business-based rates base which the Bluff does not have. One needs to compare apples with apples,” said Du Bois.

“Like the Bluff, Durban North is largely residential and does not fare any better than the Bluff in the 2014/15 capital budget. Ward 36 (Durban North) is set to receive a sidewalk in Claredon Road for R135,000, while R720,000 is to be spent on the Japanese Gardens. Ward 66 is set to share R450,000 with three other wards on upgrading existing parks and R900,000 is to be spent on a stormwater outfall in Noel Road.

My request for the construction of a community centre – proposed to the city treasurer last November – was not successful. All the other capital expenditure is distributed in what are called ‘blocksums’ – an equitable allocation of funds across all wards for electricity upgrades, traffic calming and general infrastructure.

So, do Bluff ratepayers reap the benefit of their rates contributions? To answer that, some basic calculations are required: if one estimates that there are 8,500 households and they each pay an average of R800-a-month each in rates that means the Bluff contributes around R80-million-a-year to the city’s coffers. (That figure is purely a rough guide and should not be seized upon as an established fact.)

However, in attempting to provide an account of whether the Bluff gets a reasonable return on its contributions, the following needs to be appreciated. The Bluff has one of the largest and best-equipped suburban libraries in eThekwini; a brand new clinic; a garden refuse and DSW site; beach amenities and life savers the Lieutenant King municipal pool; over 200 roads, which require maintenance from time-to-time; two of the most modern electricity sub-stations in the country; a vast water-borne sewer network and pump stations (which Westville and Hillcrest do not have); a mostly renewed system of water pipes and renewed street lighting on Tara Road.

All of this infrastructure has to be staffed and maintained, and while complaints about staffing and maintenance are frequent, the fact remains that it all incurs ongoing expenditure. Unfortunately, all of the above and more is often simply taken for granted by critics. The reality, however, is that if the Bluff was detached from eThekwini, its ability to maintain what we have is questionable while funding to expand or upgrade facilities would require substantial (and probably unaffordable) rates hikes.

Criticisms of the budget, therefore, need to be directed at staffing skills and proficiencies and at the awarding of contracts. It is in those areas that value for money is often not being realised.”