Cape Town - The City did not spend R178 million as at end of June from a R1.48 billion Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) and has asked for R117m to be rolled over and the rest to be returned to the National Treasury.
Deputy mayor Ian Neilson said the unspent portion was 4% of the total budget.
The City has come under fire in the past, both from President Cyril Ramaphosa and opposition parties, for not spending the money on the upgrade of informal settlements.
“The USDG funding is managed not only on actual expenditure, but also on committed funding, which is rolled over, provided that the City provides adequate proof that the funds have been committed,” said Neilson.
But it is not only the City’s USDG that they have been unable to spend; they have also been unable to spend several of the grants they receive.
Those grants range from the Public Transport Network Grant, where they have been unable to spend R121m, the Municipal Disaster Grant, where they have been unable to spend R199m, and the Integrated City Development Grant, where they couldn't spend R1.4m.
“For the 2018/19 financial year, the spending before June 30, 2019 was approximately R1.3bn (88%), and the committed funds were R117m (8%) of the total allocation of R1.48 billion.
“The unspent portion is thus R60m, or 4% of the total,” Neilson said.
According to the City, there are various reasons why they couldn't spend their grant funds for the year.
Among those reasons are anti-social behaviour that have an impact on expenditure; poor planning that leads to poor performance; and non-compliance by departments with various frameworks, leading to withholding of funds by National Treasury.
It’s not the first time the municipality has been unable to spend its USDG.
The city received a tongue-lashing from opposition parties for its alleged misuse of funds. Last year it emerged that DA-run cities such as the City of Johannesburg and City of Cape Town had lost nearly R540m meant to cover the costs of providing infrastructure for poor households due to non-performance.
Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene stopped the transfer of R363m to Johannesburg, while Cape Town forfeited about R176m allocated in the USDG.
While campaigning for the ANC in Delft, President Cyril Ramaphosa slammed the DA, charging that the provincial government had failed to use nearly R1.7bn in funds allocated for housing, which was returned to the National Treasury.
Back in July, the Cape Argus reported that the City’s water and sanitation directorate failed to spend R417m meant to provide an additional supply to the City’s drinking water resources. It also emerged that the City’s transport directorate did not spend over R120m of its annual budget. It was also able to spend only 57% of its USDG.
ANC caucus leader Xolani Sotashe said: “We are not surprised by this. When you look at the conditions people live in, councillors are under siege because of lack of services, and yet they have money to spend. It shows we are led by a bunch of idiots with no political will.”
Sotashe said Cape Town was regressing, with ongoing factions in the DA negatively impacting on services.