Revised municipal budget approved

Writer: Hedda Mittner.

During a virtual council meeting held on Wednesday, 27 May in Hermanus, Gansbaai and Kleinmond, the full council of the Overstrand Municipality unanimously approved the 2020/’21 municipal budget. Speaker Anton Coetsee pronounced this “a remarkable achievement that reflects a tremendous vote of confidence in the mayor, the municipal manager and the administration as a whole”.

Also serving before council was the third review of the municipality’s 5-year Integrated Development Plan (IDP), which articulates the needs of our communities and specifies initiatives to be funded by the municipal budget.

For the 2020/’21 financial year, the strategic direction set out in the 5-year IDP remains unchanged. The Draft Budget, however, was revised in order to reduce municipal expenditure and to assist ratepayers who are under financial strain.

“The national lockdown, imposed as a result of COVID-19, and the various regulations promulgated by National Government under the National State of Disaster, have unfortunately had a devastating effect on the economy of South Africa – and the Overstrand is no exception,” said Executive Mayor Dudley Coetzee in his address.

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