The DA presented an alternate budget proposal aimed at improving city management and service delivery to the metro’s residents by three very simple and effective methods, namely revenue enhancement, cost cutting and eradicating corruption.
Fixing the problems in these three broad areas, which underpin the entire budget, has proven successful where the DA governs and, if implemented in Ekurhuleni, would ensure a well-run city.
The metro budget is hindered by loss of revenue of approximately R1.2-b due to uncollected rates and service charges and long outstanding debts from other spheres of government and local businesses.
It is vital that the metro increases its collection rate from the existing 87% to, at the very least, its own target of 93% or ideally the DA’s proposed target of 95%.
A fair, consistent and firm debt collection drive would enable the metro to vastly increase revenue collection which, in turn, would directly benefit every resident in the metro.
The additional revenue collected under this plan can improve service delivery, increase capital development and even provide for lower tariffs.
The most obvious way to save money in a personal budget rings true for a major metro budget; cut the costs on unnecessary line items.
There are several obvious areas in which the metro can tighten its belt such as, dispensing with extravagant events, gala dinners, expensive study tours and excessive overtime salaries, all of which can be reined in quickly and significantly.
Steps would be taken to ensure that public money is no longer spent on party political events and campaigns. Only events that provide value will be celebrated and even then, not in an ostentatious manner.
Further, the DA budget would rewrite the handbook for the mayoral committee and senior managers which would curb costly protection services for officials and councillors where not absolutely necessary.
Every department and senior post would be analysed to establish its value to residents, directly or indirectly, and superfluous departments or positions would be closed or absorbed into other structures.
Other cost-saving measures would include radical reductions in water and electricity losses, coupled with closer monitoring of over-consumption of services by registered indigents.
Addressing these sources of waste would yield hundreds of millions of rands of available cash to fund the metro’s programmes.
Corruption is a poison that taints every sphere of government and it costs residents not only money but basic services as well.
The current closed tender process, excessive wasteful expenditure and lack of consequence for those involved in fraud must be stopped.
Fortunately, the means of stopping the most serious and expensive corruption is a simple matter of opening the tender process to public scrutiny, ensuring rapid investigation of corruption allegations with swift justice if found guilty, and would speed up disciplinary processes and stop long suspensions on full pay as the DA has done in Cape Town and the Western Cape and would do here.
Once these three pillars of Ekurhuleni’s budget have been brought in line and the Metro has more liquid cash to spend on its operating budget, it will in turn have more capacity to borrow money to fund capital projects.
The overall effect, as proven by the city of Cape Town, a fiscally well managed city would be the biggest reward of all; attracting investors who create the vitally needed jobs.
In an industrial city like Ekurhuleni with the highest unemployment rate in Gauteng, the imperative to do this becomes even more urgent.
The highlights of the DA’s suggestions include the following:
Repairs and maintenance
* Employ people with the relevant skills.
* Allocate and spend more on repairs and maintenance, moving closer to national treasury guidelines.
* Secure assets to reduce theft and vandalism.
* Implement preventative maintenance programmes.
Human settlements
* Provide the option for rent-to-own.
* Refurbish city centre vacant buildings for accommodation, commerce (SMME’s) and social services.
* Insentivise the conversion of empty and abandoned factories for accommodation and business mixed use.
* Enforce integrated development of social facilities (clinics, schools etc.) with housing developments.
* Couple the public and private transport systems to the urban settlement plan.
Collections/bad debts and write-offs
* Control the indigent household over consumption so that the benefits of reduced write-offs can be shared with genuinely poor households.
* Increase the collection rate to 95% overall.
* Use the additional revenue in better service delivery, increased capital development and or lower tariffs.
* Roll out secure electricity structures throughout the municipality.
* Move towards prepaid electricity meters for all residents, providing such meters free of charge for proven indigents.
Water losses
* Increase the efficiency of the call centre.
* Install meters on all service points.
* Replace all aged water pipes in under 10 years.
* Reduce unaccounted water from 36% to 15% over seven years.
Water polution
* Implement a comprehensive plan to upgrade sewer systems.
* Upgrade sewer capacity in line with housing developments.
* Improve project management at Erwat to increase treatment capacity.
* Educate the public on the dangers of water pollution.
Economic development
* Raise the portion of the capital budget spent on economic development projects from 18% to 30%.
* Raise the capital budget from R3.5-b to R4.7-b, excluding any new housing allocations from national or provincial government.
* Provide opportunities for SMMEs to present business plans to the municipality for support.
Productivity, management and human relations
* Timeously fill vacancies.
* Introduce the right complement and ratios of staff in terms of workers and managers.
* Recruit the necessary number of engineers in-house.
* Employ competent and qualified people for all posts.
Cost saving
* Cut out extravagant parties, workshops, indabas, trips, study tours and conferences.
* Reign in overtime costs.
* Stop all use of public money for political events.
* Examine the value of all departments and close those which do not provide value.
Corruption
* Open the tender process to public scrutiny.
* Rapidly investigate corruption allegations.
* Speed up disciplinary processes.
* Fire any officials found guilty of taking a bribe or being involved in other corrupt practices.
By-law inforcement
* Introduce uniform and consistent by-law enforcement throughout the metro.
* Process all appropriate policies into by-laws.
* Ensure visible policing to stop traffic law transgressions.
* Introduce uniform and consistent by-law enforcement throughout the metro.
