POLOKWANE – A considerable number of wards in the Polokwane city cluster requested that the recently proposed municipal budget for 2023/24 should face stern adjustments, especially in terms of road construction and upgrades.
The city’s seven wards, consisting of 8, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 39 feature in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), with the municipality proposing the development of four road projects, to the value of R18.1m.
The plan proposes that three of these projects take place in ward 19 (Westenburg and Nirvana), involving 70% of the overall roads budget for the coming financial year starting on July 1. If no changes are made, less than 30% (R5m) of the proposed budget will be used for the construction of non-motorised transport infrastructure in Staal/Railway, Fluoorspar, Zebediela, Vermikuliet, Excelsior and Hospital street in wards 39 and 8.
During a stakeholders meeting held last Thursday in the Jack Botes hall with the Mayor, John Mpe, members of the mayoral committee and community members, residents cautiously criticised the state of the draft presented by the municipality, adding that their responses to previous IDPs regarding roads projects in their respective areas have not been included in budgets, some citing from as far as 2016.
They said they found it discriminatory to offer multiple projects to ward 19 as presented in the proposed IDP, while they still wait for their contributions to see the light of day in terms of municipal IDPs.
“We are here presenting the same needs that we presented for the last seven years now, but if you look at the current draft, there is not even a single need in our area highlighted here. We see a lot of progress in Nirvana and Westenburg and these areas remain the centre of the proposed budget – but little has been implemented in our areas. We want a road that connects Southerngate 4 and 5; and 1 and 2, as well as proper water drainage systems,” ward 22 representative, Kgwadi Mpe remarked.
Mpe acknowledged the request, adding that it remains a municipal responsibility to attentively pass a final budget with the specific needs of community stakeholders at the core.
He assured residents that all of the municipality’s short-term intervention plans surrounding the prevalent water crisis are being realised.
“We have been fixing boreholes, valves at Dalmada water plant, using the over R400m budget received by Lepelle Northern Water to refurbish all pump stations. We have improved sources at Olifantspoort to pump 27ml per day and Ebenezer pumping 37ml per day,” he said.
Meanwhile some of the needs that were prioritised by the municipality and residents, include the construction and maintenance of storm water drainage systems to the proposed value of R2 938 991 for areas such as Ster Park, Flora Park, Fauna Park and the CBD in order to correct the impact of the February flash floods; the installation of traffic lights in the CBD to the value of R8.3m and the provision of water through the construction and maintenance of water treatment works among others with a proposed cost of R50m.
