Millions to be pumped into road, electricity and water infrastructure upgrades for Msunduzi Municipality

The Msunduzi Municipality’s R747 million capital expenditure budget 2021/22 tabled on Monday focused on infrastructure upgrades.Picture : Motshwari Mofokeng /African News Agency (ANA)

The Msunduzi Municipality’s R747 million capital expenditure budget 2021/22 tabled on Monday focused on infrastructure upgrades.Picture : Motshwari Mofokeng /African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jun 1, 2021

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DURBAN - THE Msunduzi Municipality’s R747 million capital expenditure budget 2021/22 tabled on Monday focused on infrastructure upgrades.

Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Tebolla said the Covid-19 pandemic had placed additional stress on already-strained municipal revenues. The city was forced to adjust the budget downwards from an approved Medium-Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (MTREF) Capex of R581m.

Tebolla said they received a reprieve from grants that were direct transfers from the national government, and the capital expenditure provision had improved to R747m.

“This will have a massive impact on the city’s infrastructure delivery programme. We have a R200m electricity-specific infrastructure built programme. Ageing power lines are the second greatest cause of power outages in the city.”

Upgrades to the water infrastructure and sewer pipelines in several wards were estimated at R58m. Tebolla said road infrastructure made a crucial contribution to the economic development and growth of the city. He said the upgrading of community roads was the priority of his administration.

“A number of roads have been upgraded, and a good number are in progress. Gravel roads will be tarred. We have roads upgrading projects in most wards. In this budget, we have allocated R79 620m for roads and associated infrastructure.”

The city’s strategy to meet outstanding housing needs led to an allocation of R79m to completing the housing projects funded by the Department of Human Settlements.

Tebolla said they had instituted cost-containment measures and aimed at reducing spending on non-essentials, conducting regular audits of the staff roll to eliminate ghost employees and to be prudent on travelling in the 2021/22 financial year.

The budgeted allocation for employee-related costs for the 2021/22 financial year amounted to R1.5 billion, which equalled 25% of the total operating expenditure.

Tebolla said salary increases had been factored into this budget at a percentage

“The suspension of interest on current arrears debt linked to the Covid-19 lockdown is applicable to all ratepayers and requires no manual verification. The financial impact to the city of this intervention alone is expected to be R30.4m for three months, and R94.5m for six months,” Tebolla said.

The Integrated Road Public Transport Network System, where all land transport modes, namely buses and minibus taxis, would be integrated in operations was nearing completion, said Tebolla.

“This project hit a snag as a grant meant for it was recalled last year. We managed to keep the project alive.

“We have managed to reverse the funds, and the project construction is on track. So far R134m has been received.”

Daily News

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