The fifth operational and capital budget for 2015/2016 financial year was delivered on June 4, when the mayor announced that the total budget towards infra-structure and basic service delivery is R201 042 372.
“Significant strides in curbing infra-structural deficiencies need to be taken where collectively we need to device innovations towards service delivery that will see us improve the manner and the speed at which we deliver basic services, services that will be qualitative and yet affordable,” said Cllr Sithole.
As the country celebrates 60 years of the Freedom Charter, the municipality said they will be going an extra mile in building a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa. It will also be the year of investing more in the future, by educating the children and the youth about the rich heritage of the country, as a result Cllr Sithole condemns xenophobic attacks.
In preparing this budget the councillor said they were mindful of the current economic climate, the rising costs of electricity and fuel, and most especially the triple challenges of employment, inequality and poverty.
Emalahleni has approximately 270 registered townships. Of the 69 informal settlements, 25 are in the process of formalisation. The municipality is still faced with challenges ranging from providing sustainable services due to aging infrastructure (electrical, water, sanitation and roads), sewer spillages, deteriorated roads infrastructure and the escalating high Eskom debt to mention a few.
Emalahleni is the fastest growing municipality in the province and in the country. The challenges presented by this rapid growth are not only infra-structural but are also social. While other former mining towns are experiencing an exodus of the population, eMalahleni has a large influx of the population which seeks the perceived opportunities that are available.
One of the biggest social challenges that the municipality faces is the emergence of informal settlement which leads to high levels of unemployment and crime level increase.
Municipal functions with regards to service delivery are Water and Sanitation Services; Electrical Services; Refuse removal, Roads and Stormwater; Waste and Environmental Management Services; as well as provision for Human Settlement which are all informed by the Spatial Planning.
Despite problems the municipality faces they have managed to pride themselves with results of how their economic activities have been booming, this includes the rural water supply where four boreholes were drilled at Spring Valley, Jojo Tanks were installed for potable water in most parts of informal settlements and rural villages and the construction of Klarinet Clinic.
Under Local Economic Development the municipality has tourism safety ambassadors. This programme aims to alleviate poverty and create jobs and currently there are 12 Tourism Ambassadors that are stationed in Central Business District. These ambassadors’ work is to assist tourist with directions.
The mayor mentioned that there has been a challenge of not obeying the law at eMalahleni. The uncontrolled and increase of drugs related crimes within the municipality, theft and illegal connection to municipal services, high rate of prostitution, vandalism of municipal assets and properties.
The Geographical positioning of the municipality exposes the area to higher levels of this incidents, because of the area being in close proximity to Gauteng and Maputo.
“Emalahleni has been a hot spot of Cash Transit heists. We are going to host eMalahleni crime summit with the assistance from Department of Police from June 18 to 19. This is part of a crime prevention strategy that local government must hold the local crime summit to mobilise the civil society and police to fight crime,” said Cllr Sithole.
The Community Work Programme (CWP) is also another innovative offering from government to provide a job safety net for unemployed people. It is also a great opportunity for unemployed youth who are actively looking for employment opportunities.
Where the eMalahleni educational attainment is improving, which is a positive indication because the more the people that get educated, the lesser financial dependency they will have in the government.
“This year alone we assisted 29 students to register at different tertiary institutions to amount of R100 000. We understand that is a small number but it is because of the limited resources the municipality has and also the high cost of tertiary institutions. We prioritized scarce skills like engineering, IT, Business Management, technician and accounting. We are increasing the mayor’s study scheme to R1 000 000,” said Cllr Sithole.
Planned future programmes that Cllr Sithole has lined up is to review Bulk Contribution Policy, introduce electronic billing system and to develop Sector Plan (Master Plans) to cope with the development of the towns.
“Our core function as local government is on ensuring that the communities that we serve receive qualitative services efficiently and effectively in order to increase the quality of life, which has been the biggest challenge for our municipality that is also faced with rapid exponential growth” said Cllr Sithole.
