Residents must tighten their belts because the mayor has announced an increase in service delivery tariffs.
Property rates are going up by 13.8%, water services are increasing by 10.5%, electricity services by 1.88%, refuse removal services by 13% and sewerage services by 8.97%.
Emalahleni Executive Mayor Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali addressing during the State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) delivered at the City Hall on Thursday, May 25 (photo: Solly Maseko).
“Highlights, achievements, challenges and work in progress.” These are the keywords the Executive Mayor Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali used in the State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) she delivered on Thursday, May 25.
She may have delivered a transparent and balanced SOMA, but the words missing from this address were ‘what are they going to do about the problems’ and ‘how long is it going to take’.
The Executive Mayor, Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali getting the feel of the new machinery on Thursday, May 25. This machine will assist in fixing potholes in future (Photo: Melissa Nel).
Out of the starting blocks she said the slow progress of approving development proposals was one of the obstacles the Spatial Planning Department encounters. Worsening matters more is budget constraint for planning processes.
She forecasted more housing opportunities and the acceleration of formalising and relocating informal settlements.
Emalahleni Municipality has an estimated backlog of 52 629 houses. Again the slow pace in the delivery of houses as well as challenges with appointed contractors plays a huge role in this problem.
Read the FULL STORY in the WITBANK NEWS out today
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