Africa-Press – South-Africa. The DA-led multiparty coalition in Tshwane finally passed its adjustment budget after weeks of delays – and they did so with the aid and support of ANC councillors.
The outcome irked the EFF, who disapproved of the ANC’s sudden change of heart in support of the DA.
The mayor of Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, announced on Wednesday the council had approved the budget, with the support of 165 councillors.
“I am pleased to report that, during today’s ordinary council meeting, our multiparty coalition government was able to finally pass the adjustment budget for the 2022/23 financial year. This is important for the financial stability of the City and driving service delivery,” said Brink.
The victory comes after the multiparty coalition’s failure on 14 April, in which the ANC and EFF voted against the budget, with one vote required for it to be adopted.
The mayor said the budget would “authorise unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure, address any shortfalls on the revenue from service charges, address overspending, authorise the use of projected savings, and appropriate rollover grants approved during the financial year”.
Brink said the council had also approved the report to begin the search for senior management positions.
ANC Tshwane member and Gauteng leader Tlangi Mogale said the DA had the “necessary numbers” to pass the budget, but the ANC had laid out its terms.
“There is a commitment by the DA that they would put more emphasis on deliverables around the townships and that they will engage in a much more consultative process,” said Mogale.
Mogale said the ANC caucus in Tshwane remained “unhappy” that all the projects in Tshwane, which were meant for townships, had been either terminated or suspended.
“Wards get to suffer, and some of the bulk of service delivery is not met. We will wait for the actual budget at the end of June, and then we will have a look at that,” said Mogale.
She added that the party was comforted by the DA admitting its shortcomings – and the ANC would raise more issues it felt should be addressed differently and better.
The EFF’s Tshwane chairperson, Obakeng Ramabodu, previously told News24 the party had voted against the budget because it was underfunded.
Ramabodu, in a statement on Saturday, condemned the ANC’s stance, which he said was a betrayal of people experiencing poverty.
He said the ANC “ignored the call to protect the poor, at the expense of saving their salaries, in the likelihood of an imminent dissolution by the provincial government”.
Ramabodu said the EFF would hold both the ANC and the multiparty coalition accountable for delivering what the budget was set to achieve.
“The EFF, in its prudence, resisted the hypocritical politics of the ANC, which prioritises councillors over the people. Living conditions in the townships have deteriorated substantially. This presents a stark reminder to the EFF caucus never to compromise the well-being of our people at the altar of political expediency.”
He said the budget should have accounted for people living in townships, adding that the DA was to blame for the collapse of service delivery.
“The seven years of DA minority rule collapsed service delivery in Tshwane and subjected masses of people to hell on earth. The EFF, in consideration of the prevailing conditions of poor service delivery, will not associate itself with the oppressors of the people who have marginalised underprivileged communities,” Ramabodu said.
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