ICYMI: City of Joburg outlines Integrated Development Plan for the next year

The City of Johannesburg outlined its Integrated Development Plan for the 2020/21 financial year on 9 July.

The budget was initially meant to be announced on 2 July, however, this was delayed. The financial year of the City of Johannesburg ended on 30 June 2020. In terms of section 24(2) of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 2003 (Act 56 of 2003), the Council of the City of Johannesburg ought to have approved the budget by 1 July 2020.

The Gauteng Provincial Executive Council directed the municipal council to ensure the budget was tabled before 10 July.

Following a lengthy process to go through a virtual roll call with all the City councillors, various ward councillors gave their input on the budget.

Finance MMC Jolidee Matongo announced that the 2020/21 budget amounts to approximately R68.1 billion. He said, “It is clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has turned the global economy upside down, and the City of Johannesburg has not been an exception.”

Matongo highlighted that the pandemic has already had an impact on the City’s revenue collection.

Reduction in City tariffs:

This year, for the first time ever, residents were able to share their input on the budget and tariffs virtually. Matongo said, “The tariff-setting process, which was presented through a public participation engagement, took into consideration the likely impact the initially proposed tariff increases had on the local economy, businesses and residents.”

Following concerns expressed by residents to the proposed tariffs, the City has taken a decision to withdraw the proposed fixed charges of R200 for residential and R400 for commercial pre-paid electricity.

The property rates tariff will also be reduced from the proposed 4.9 per cent to 4 per cent. The water tariff will also drop from the initial proposal of 8.6 per cent to 6.6 per cent, and the electricity tariff goes down from 8.10 per cent to 6.23 per cent.

MMC Matongo said, “In addition to these tariff relief interventions, the pensioner income qualifying criteria has increased by 6 per cent. This means a pensioner with a property value of below R2.5 million and an income of below R10 338 for the lower limit or below R17 719 for the upper limit, will receive a 100 per cent rebate on their rates.”

“This effectively means an increased number of pensioners will now qualify for the City’s rebates.”

Key points outlined in the proposed budget:

• Over R 1 billion has been allocated for job creation and SMME (small, medium and micro-size enterprises) engagement through the roll-out of projects that include sewer upgrades, stormwater upgrades, tarring of roads and housing developments. These projects are planned to take place in Orange Farm, Lakeside, Drieziek, Kapok, Ivory Park, Ebony Park, Mayibuye, Riverlea and Kliptown.

• Over 1 300 people will be employed across the City’s 135 wards. This will mean that there will be a minimum of 10 people working to augment the services provided by the City’s entities.

• There are 3 500 more housing units that will be built in Region A, B, D and G. This is in addition to the ongoing projects in Lufhereng, Fleurhof, South Hills and Lehae.

• A total of R1.2 billion has been allocated for the formalisation of informal settlements over the medium term.

• There are upgrades planned for the Central Fire Station in the CBD and the Protea Glen Fire Station in the new financial year. An allocation of R200 million has also been made for the procurement of fire engines.

• The Joburg 10 Plus programme, which is a ward-based policing programme, will be bolstered to ensure a minimum of 10 law enforcement officers is available per ward at any given time.

• Youth Development-Directed Programmes will receive seed funding of R50 million in partnership with the provincial and national government, and the private sector to augment the City’s resource.

• Up to 500 000 food parcels and vouchers will be distributed to vulnerable households as there are indications that more than a million households in Johannesburg are food insecure.

• Clinics in Florida, Naledi, Bophelong, Turffontein, Zandspruit, the Orchards Clinic and the Alexandra Hospice will be constructed or completed.

• There will be extended service hours in 14 additional clinics and the establishment of six Substance Abuse Centres. There will also be an additional 10 mobile clinics across the City.

• There will be provision for the construction and operationalisation of multi-purpose centres in Ivory Park, Lehae, Matholesville, Kaalfontein and Drieziek.

• About R800 million over the medium term has also been allocated for the procurement of new buses for the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit system to ease the current demand pressure on the existing fleet.

• Over the medium term, over R156 million has been set aside for hostel upgrades and R105 million for the upgrade of flats and old age homes.

• R40 million has been made available to expand access to free Wi-Fi across the City, including in hostels, flats, student villages and old age homes. This is in addition to the R45 million that was allocated in June this year for the roll-out of the Free Joburg Wi-Fi.

• In the medium term, R780 million has been set aside for the tarring of gravel roads across Johannesburg.

• Up to R820 million has been allocated over the medium term for stormwater upgrades across the City.

• A total of R440 million has been set aside over the medium term for the construction and upgrading of bridges.

• An operating budget of R12.8 billion has been allocated for the supply of water and sanitation to the people of Johannesburg, both in formal and informal settlements. In some areas, chemical toilets and water tanks will be added and serviced regularly. Over the next three years, a capital budget of R3.1 billion has been allocated.

• City Power has been allocated a three-year capital budget of R2.6 billion. There will be R205 million allocated for public lighting, R498 million allocated for the electrification of informal settlements at R498 million and R100 million allocated for the electrification of Mega Projects.

• The maintenance and refurbishment of existing electricity infrastructure, supporting infrastructure such as ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and integrated security and fire protection systems have been allocated a budget of R22.7 million.

• An operating budget of R3 billion has been allocated to Pikitup and will go towards the ward-by-ward approach to waste management. Co-operatives will be appointed across all regions and they, in turn, will appoint, on a short-term basis, at least 15 people per ward to keep the City clean. There is also the planned improvement of refuse collection in informal settlements through the provision of more waste bags and more strategically placed skip bins. These interventions will be rolled out alongside the City’s ongoing Kleena Joburg Campaign.