The reaction from the ANC on the City’s budget was predictable and came as no surprise.
Spokesperson for the party in the Johannesburg region, Jolidee Matongo, said the budget was a true reflection of proper financial management from his party. “We are always accused of corruption, but there is no evidence to that. The recent financial upgrades that the City received from rating agencies is the evidence that all is in order.”
Matongo’s highlight of the speech was the improvement in revenue collection, which he said goes hand-in-hand with improved and proper billing by the City.
“If people are paying for their services, it shows that they have confidence in the billing process which was actually a crisis in the past.”
He said the budget reflected that the City cares about its people. “R1 billion will go back to the pockets of the citizens through the numerous forms of rebates that the MMC spoke about in his speech.”
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On the other hand, DA Mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, said he was disappointed that the speech did not address current burning issues for the residents of Johannesburg. He said there was nothing substantial that he took away from Geoffrey Makhubo’s speech.
“All I heard was government praising itself and that should not be the case. The people are the ones who are supposed to tell you that you are working and doing well.” One of the important issues that Mashaba had hoped to hear was how the City was going to address the issue of unemployment.
The other point that the Mashaba felt the City omitted to address was how to attract more investors and businesses into Johannesburg. “There are so many hijacked and unused buildings in the city. What is the City doing about them?”
On the same note, City Power is one of the entities that quickly released a statement following the budget speech and stated that it was pleased with what they were allocated to fund their capital projects. The statement released by City Power’s managing director, Sicelo Xulu read, “This budget allocation will enable City Power to ramp up the refurbishment and upgrading of ageing infrastructure, increase procurement of energy from renewable sources, boost its revenue recovery programmes, fund the rollout of smart meters to improve billing accuracy and revenue collection, expand the solar water geyser footprint and accelerate the electrification of informal settlements, namely Elias Motsoaledi, Lehae, Kliptown and Princess Plot.”
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Xulu said the R16.7 billion operating budget will bode well for the attainment of City Power’s strategic objectives as outlined by the City of Johannesburg and will further ensure business continuity and boost their ability to keep the lights on for the residents of Johannesburg.
