AS part of its budget consultation process, eThekwini Municipality presented the draft 2019/2020 budget to business stakeholders at the Durban ICC last week.
Deputy Mayor Fawzia Peer said the budget is balanced and sustainable and has key focus areas. “This budget supports our commitment to broadening service delivery, attracting investors and expanding investment in infrastructure, within the current constrained economic environment currently being experienced,” she said.
Some of the priorities within the 2019/20 budget are service delivery, economic growth, poverty alleviation, investment and job creation. Peer also explained that tariff increases were unavoidable but were still reasonable.
Deputy City Manager of Treasury, Dr Krish Kumar, conducted the budget presentation during which he raised a particular point of interest of the actual cost to live in the city. According to the South African Cities Network, eThekwini Municipality’s cost was lower than average. “The National Treasury benchmarking exercise confirms that that this is still the case and moreover that it actually has the lowest account in respect of middle income and affordable housing,” he said.
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Beryl Mphakathi, acting on behalf of City Manager, Sipho Nzuza, said that opportunities for growth and empowerment of small businesses was a priority.
“Creating jobs and empowering our people are some of the core functions that characterise eThekwini Municipality, which is why we are doubling our efforts in ensuring that emerging businesses benefit by empowering and assisting them to identify and exploit available opportunities,” she said.
The word from the business community was strong and direct. Mike Raftery, chief financial officer of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that business thrives in an environment of security and certainty. He said he appreciated the efforts made by the City thus far, but also reminded the gathering of the serious challenges in Durban.
“More must be done to curb the non-revenue water loss, the city’s ageing drainage system and other related issues. A city is not determined by its length and width, but by the broadness of its vision and the height of its dreams,” Raftery said.
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