Johannesburg - The ANC in Joburg has welcomed the budget presentation delivered by the MMC for Finance, Dada Morero, last week.
In a statement, the ANC in Joburg said the budget was based on robust and pragmatic assumptions in line with their prudent approach as the Government of Local Unity.
“The budget increase is not only funded by tariff increases, but also funded by efficiencies such as reductions in water and electricity losses from over 30% to 25% on average,” the region said.
According to the ANC, the budget had provided for water and electricity infrastructure renewal to reduce losses.
“It is also important to explain that expenditure will be closely monitored so that it can be managed down until the expected revenue is realised. This is unquestionably prudent financial management. By managing the budget, we are confident that we can go back to days when the country was not in darkness and there was no load shedding in Joburg,” the ANC said.
The party said Joburg was a lucrative investment destination and appealed to businesses and potential investors to come to it.
“The outlook for the city is positive; we have pragmatic management in place who are helping us steer the ship in the right direction. The City of Joburg is a significant player in domestic capital markets and will continue to play this role. We continue to protect your investments in the city and will honour our obligation in full and timely fashion,” the party said.
The ANC, which is part of a broad coalition that runs the city through an Al-Jama-ah mayor, said it had inherited the City of Joburg in a financial mess. The city is also in debt with a number of loans. The party said the budget was largely informed by a number of IDP sessions that the municipality had to attend to understand the problems and needs of communities.
“It is against this background that, as the ANC in the Greater Joburg Region, we welcome the IDP and its budget presented by the MMC of Finance. We further welcome the IDP’s adoption and its budget by the majority of political parties in council. This is stated since, unfortunately, despite the call to put aside politics for a moment, the unprogressive third forces of council, who call themselves the Blue Machinery, refused to accept the mess they left behind and support a progressive budget presented by the Finance MMC,” the region said.
The Star