Cape Town - Proposed rates and tariffs increases were one of the major areas tackled by Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille who on Friday delivered her budget speech for the 2015 / 2016 financial year.
“We must make accommodations for those who can afford to pay tax and those who cannot,” said De Lille.
“Often, those who cannot afford to pay are those who have been historically excluded from opportunities by the previous regime.”
De Lille discussed allocations within the City’s total proposed overall budget which was just over R38 billion. The total operating budget stood at just over R32 billion and capital expenditure at just over R6 billion.
Proposed tariff increases included property rates 10% - an amendment from an initial 10.83% -, electricity at 10.82%, water at 11%, and sanitation at 11%.
“It is important to understand the nature of these increases, which are above [consumer price index],” said De Lille, saying the context of which was a social compact.
In fulfilling its Constitutional mandate to provide basic services and drive economic and social development, City rates had to be increased to accommodate residents who could not afford said services, she said.
“We cannot leave them without water, sanitation, and electricity. It is this government’s policy to be a caring city and to help those who need help the most,” said De Lille.
“If we left the poor destitute and without services, the entire city would fail. We cannot expect to be a thriving and economically productive city if large parts of the metro went neglected and without any form of services,” she added.
“Not only would that be fundamentally unjust, it would create the conditions for social unrest that would put the entire city at risk.”
De Lille also identified areas of particular concern, raised in the last financial year.
Included was almost “R50 million in additional security at City facilities, R15 million for overtime costs in Safety and Security”, and an additional R15.7 million for “critical social development functions”.
Per directorate, the proposed budget allocations - combining operational and capital expenditure - included just over R1 billion to City, over R1.7 billion to Community Services, over R2 billion for Human Settlements, and R4.1 billion to Transport.
De Lille also made mention of a once-off expenditure of over R240 million which would used for emergency preparations should the “unlikely event of a national blackout” occur.
“As a well-run city, we have to make accommodations for every major risk we could face. A national blackout, while of low probability, would have severe impact,” she said.
De Lille would elaborate further on emergency preparations during the ordinary Council meeting.
ANA