Some opposition parties at the City of Matlosana Local Municipality in Klerksdorp have rejected the 4.38 Billion Rand budget tabled by the Executive Mayor James Tsolela in a council meeting held last Wednesday, the 31st of May 2023. The parties say the municipality needs to generate more revenue as to what they have budgeted for, as many people need to pay their accounts.
The FF-Plus’s Annica Holtzhauzen said they have decided not to support the budget because its projected income is unrealistic. “We do not see how they are going to be able to collect the income when there are so many people that do not pay their accounts, and the municipality is not implementing the Credit Control Policy effectively because we are currently at a Seven Billion Rand loss that is owed to the municipality and has not been collected, and we do not see how they can get this income that they want to pay Eskom for the Debt Relief Program,” she said.
Johannes Le Grange from the DA said they are also rejecting the budget because the municipality does not have the money. “We are very clear about the budget because it’s an unfunded budget, we only collected 3.2 billion Rands for the last audited financial year, which is only twenty-eight thousand out of a hundred and twelve thousand municipal accounts that are paid every month, and this means the basis of income is minimal,” he said.
Le Grange also said the municipality has yet to make plans for a debt recovery plan for over Seven Billion Rand.
The EFF’s Fikile Grootboom said they have also rejected the budget because it has not changed from the previous one, and it is still a wish list that is not achievable on this unfunded budget. He said the municipality needs a proper strategy to present a funded budget that will speak to the needs of the poorest of the poor, and funds recollection in townships around the city could be much higher. “We have proposed to the Council that we should move from an old system of distributing water and electricity; try to bring smart meters that will lead to people paying for what they have used, unlike now where you choose to pay if you do not pay and you will still receive the services, which is something that leads to failure in generating enough revenue in our municipality. We need to focus on implementing a program that will grow our municipal revenue to a better position from where it is currently,” he said.
The Executive Mayor of the City of Matlosana Local Municipality, James Tsolela, told the Council that the total expenditure of the municipality for the 2023/24 financial year had been appropriated at R4.38 billion. He further said the bulk of the capital programs would be funded from government grants and transfers while provision is made for the Council-funded capital in this financial year, but it has to be backed by money.
The City of Matlosana Local Municipality is amongst four municipalities in the province that have been placed under financial rescue by Treasury MEC Motlalepule Rosho last week for a period of three years after her department found that these four municipalities are not performing well. There are now twelve municipalities in the North West Province that are assisted with running their affairs from the eight municipalities that the National Treasury initially identified.
