IDP/Budget 2007/08 The Msunduzi Municipality Budget
Ms Zanele Hlatswayo City Mayor
I
would like to thank the IDB/Budget team, IDP/ Budget Planning Com-
Overview from City Mayor mittee, Officials, Unions, Councillors and other external Stakeholders who participated in preparation for the up-coming Izimbizo that will take place around the City of Choice to discuss the achievements, progress and the challenges that Council is confronted with since last year’s Izimbizo. Izimbizo process has created an environment whereby Council regularly gets the opportunity to listen to and to be held accountable by our citizens. This is a clear demonstration on the part of Council that it is indeed serous about complying with all legislation requirements and democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution. We have built on Izimbizo concept within our system of governance which is a direct
result of our belief that the voices and views of the communities are important to us. In the past years, we have engaged different communities on many Izimbizo. We have gone through the length and breadth of our City to hear first hand what problems and challenges our people are facing. The interactions with the communities have exposed us to the strengths, shortcomings and challenges of Local Government. We have not masked difficulties, mistakes and failures, nor have we claimed any easy victories. Our Municipality commits itself to responding to the needs of the people wherever they are located and irrespective of their political affiliations. The processes of Izimbizo
serves to remind us of the long journey that we have traveled in ensuring strategic content and unity in the City of Choice to better serve the people as demanded by our Constitution. Critically we proceeded from the understanding that without information, there can be no popular participation and without popular participation there can be no lasting legitimacy or transformation of our society. It is accepted without question that success lies in the root of good communication in this fast-moving, global world in which we live, particularly in matters of delivery and development. It fosters the necessary environment for the pursuit of partnerships leading to shared growth and a better life for all.
May 2007
For those of us who enjoy the freedom that came through struggle, and who today live in our country’s Age of Hope, the question must be: to what extent are we acting to build on our City’s achievement in order to help ensure that the public is informed about its rights and responsibilities; to what extent are we co-operating to ensure that those who are disadvantaged know about the opportunities that democracy has brought about and are then able to take advantage of them. Through all our efforts, we are starting to reap the fruit of our toil, the sweat of our brows and the place called hope is our destiny.
INTRODUCTION OF THE Message by the City Manager PEOPLE’S BUDGET
T
he development of the 2007/2008 budget is yet another significant milestone for the Msunduzi Municipality and follows an exhaustive process of aligning and balancing council’s vision with the amount of money available for the financial period. As with all budgets a balance has to be achieved between what needs to be done and what can be done, taking particular cognisance of not only maintaining existing infrastructure but of also reducing the service backlogs in formerly
marginalised communities. There are also other pertinent factors that influence the budgetary process and these include issues such as sustainability, alignment with national principles such as job creation within the Expanded Public Works Programme and alignment with the city’s medium term expenditure framework as expressed by the IDP (Integrated Development Plan). The IDP is a five-year framework that provides a developmental plan upon which to design budgets and shape spending patterns.
Hereafter, and in the interests of public participation, the mayor together with ward and PR councillors will be leading a series of izimbizo (public meetings) to present the draft budget to communities for input. This process will ultimately culminate in a final budget being presented to a full sitting of council for adoption. Msunduzi budget 2007/2008 – a people’s budget to create a dynamic, caring Capital City of Choice in KwaZulu-Natal!
I
t is a great pleasure and honor to inform the citizens of the City of Choice that their needs as recorded during Izimbizo in May and October 2006 became our clarion call and formed the core and basis in the IDP reviews and final and draft budgets for 2006/07 and 2007/08. Great strides and great improvements were made in aligning the community needs with the revised IDP and drafting the Budget for 2007/08. A list of major projects planned for the new financial year stand as the witness to our intensions to make the Budget for 2007/08 financial year the People’s Budget. It is our challenge as the municipality; i.e. Manco and members of staff, unions leadership, Exco, Councilors and various stakeholders in communities and various spheres of government strive together to achieve these targets and to develop and reflect on sector plans at a municipal level with agreed priorities, indicators and deadlines. Our challenge as the City in consultation with stakeholders is to develop and adjust some of the following municipal and sector plans: • Spatial Development Framework (in progress) • Land Use Management Plan • Water Services Develop Plan • Disaster Management Plan • Public and Transportation Plans • Integrated Waste Management Plan
Mr Rob Haswell Acting City Manager • Electrification Plan • Environmental Management Plan • Integrated HIV and AIDS Program • LED Plan/Strategy • Poverty Alleviation Program • Gender Equity Program • Cemeteries and Crematoria Plan • Tourism Development Plan/Strategy • Fleet Management Implementation Plan • A Five Year Financial Plan (to be reviewed annually like any plans) • Integrated Revenue Strategy • Organizational Transformation Projects • Integrated Housing Delivery • Performance Management Asisukume futhi sibambisane sakhe imiphakathi nesizwe sethu!!