ANC rejects budget
The budget is out of touch with the economic realities, and is not underpinned by the views and inputs of the communities,” said ANC Ekurhuleni Caucus, Whip on council Jongizizwe Dlabathi
The multi-party coalition of the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) passed its first budget since accession to office in November of 2021.
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Executive Mayor Tania Campbell said the budget sets the course for CoE to intensify the implementation of the back-to-basics agenda to improve service delivery and accelerate inclusive growth for the benefit of all the residents and ratepayers of the city.
She said the R51.2b budget details resolute measures for the 2022/23 financial year to continue nursing the city back to financial health.
The ANC rejected the budget policy statement saying it mirrors the directionless state of the city address.
“The budget fell short of a clear vision by the DA-led coalition.
A budget that lacks a strategic direction and falls short in giving proper meaning to the implementation of the GDS2055.
“The budget is out of touch with the economic realities, and is not underpinned by the views and inputs of the communities,” said ANC Ekurhuleni Caucus Whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi.
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He said with this budget policy statement communities will experience regression, stagnation, and hardship. He further said the budget had compromised the principle of meaningful involvement by communities.
“Sadly, the council approved a budget that is not informed by the will of the communities,” said Dlabathi.
The former MMC of Finance Graham Gersbach said he had not yet received the consolidated reports from the IDP meetings and other sources.
The executive mayor was not happy with my decision to release the inputs received through the budget tips.”
The former MMC further said: “What concerned me was that the officials have almost finalised the revised budget without any evidence of responses to all the inputs received.”
Dlabathi said: “Out of the ANC Caucus community engagements, we submitted 390 key community needs coming from all our 78 wards and we could only trace a low rate of projects, which we cannot vouch for with certainty that they are a direct product of what was submitted by communities.”
He further criticised the city for urging residents to fix potholes from their own pockets.
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“The current state of our roads is simply depicting a collapsing city, to the extent that residents are itching to patch potholes.
“This proves that the so-called back-to-basic stance is just lip service. Residents cannot further take money out of their own pockets to fix potholes,” said Dlabathi.
