Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has passed its adjustment budget tabled in council on Thursday.
The budget outlines projects that could not be completed and roll-over of funds it received from national and provincial government.
Mayor Dan Plato said: “The roll-overs of funding for projects that were committed in the previous financial year, but were not completed by the end of June. The roll-overs ensure that these projects can be completed. A total of R520 million is to be rolled over, compared to the completed capital budget of R6 billion.”
Plato said the purpose of the budget is to deal with the substantial changes in national grant funding, mostly reductions due to the tightening of the national budget.
“The capital budget for grant funded work is to be reduced by R1,48 billion, while the internally funded capital budget is to be increased by R537 million.
Municipalities across the country have been subject to budget cuts from National Government, largely as a result of National Treasury having to address the costs related to the impact of Covid-19 interventions. One example is our Human Settlements directorate, which sees a cut of R117 million to Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) and Human Settlement Development Grant funding.
“A number of programmes and projects will have to be put on hold to accommodate the cut in funding, but our basic service delivery will remain unaffected and I am sure residents will take comfort in this,” he said.
Mayco member for Human Settlements Malusi Booi said: “The budget cuts are set to affect at least 15 projects in the formal housing and informal settlements upgrade programmes across the metro in the current financial year. The City is currently looking at all options to see how the delivery challenges can be addressed.”
Opposition parties have decided to vote against the tabling of the adjustment budget.
In May, the ACDP tabled a motion calling for all Councillors to not receive salary increases for this financial year, while the City is dealing with Covid-19 pandemic - the motion was rejected.
ACDP caucus leader Grant Haskin said: “Clearly, making personal sacrifices for the benefit of the people of Cape Town, in their time of greatest need, upheaval and uncertainty, was not an option for the DA.”
COPE caucus leader Farouk Cassim said: “This Council is in a catch 22 situation. On top of grant reduction, its own revenue is also declining.
“The City's electricity the department, for example, is going to have a short fall of a billion rand this year because electricity sales have been falling off.”
Cape Argus