'KDM budget an insult,' claim opposition parties

By Musa Mnyandu

Opposition parties in the KwaDukuza Council are unimpressed with the municipality's record R3.5 billion budget for the 2023/24 financial year. They have dismissed the budget as an “insult:” to residents and businesses of KwaDukuza.

The Official Opposition Party in Council, the Democratic Alliance (DA) feels that the municipality ignored received with regard to proposed tariff hikes. DA Caucus Leader in Council, Cllr Tammy Colley says a number of objections were sent to the Municipal Manager, but these appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Colley further raises serious concerns about the escalating energy losses, adding that there appeared to be very little will on the part of the municipality to curb such losses.

Colley adds that residents of KwaDukuza have made it clear that the increases reflected in the budget are unaffordable.

“Another major concern is the electricity tariff increase of 15.1%, with the NERSA approved increase at 18.49% for bulk purchases. Bulk purchases to Eskom sit at over 1,1 billion and the Department is losing almost 27 percent in electricity to technical and non-technical losses, it is clear that there is no will to deal with this scourge in KwaDukuza.

“We must see the Energy Loss Task Team reforming in order to get on top of this open tap of lost revenue.

Employee related costs are 24% of the operational budget, with the increase for this year at 5.4%. Yet do not see any urgency in filling the critical posts that affect service delivery,” stated Cllr Colley.

The DA has however welcomed the huge increase in capital budget, which now sits at R950 million. Nevertheless, Colley said capital projects linked to flood disaster needed ongoing monitoring.

Another opposition party, the Independent Alliance (IA), said its initial reaction was that the budget is very good, however here were areas of concern. IA Chairperson Commie Nhleko said the cost of electricity in KwaDukuza was extremely high, as compared to other areas.

“There is no place in the entirety of KwaZulu-Natal with electricity as expensive as KwaDukuza. Every citizen of KwaDukuza will tell you that if you buy an electricity token for R100, you get only 43 units, which means a whopping R57 of your R100 s lost to the consumer.

That is our cry.

“We will continue to call on the Mayor and the ruling party to revisit this matter, is it has a profoundly adverse impact on the people.

“On the issue of refuse removal, the suggested increase will add further burden on consumers. The increase will further impoverish our people,” Nhleko stated.

Kick in the face

The IA has further reiterated its call for security services to the in-sourced, in order to curtail rising costs. Nhleko raised serious concerns about the recent break-in at the municipality's Finance Office, which allegedly happened under the watch of the current security service providers.

“As the IA our call is that we must stop using the residents of KwaDukuza as a source of income for the municipality. We cannot use our people as a source of revenue for KwaDukuza Municipality when we are sitting at 40% unemployment rate,” Nhleko said.

ActionSA is also equally unconvinced, with KwaDukuza Caucus Leader Nel Sewraj accusing the municipality of moving at a snail's pace in addressing the issue of energy losses.

“ActionSA does not believe that due diligence was done in the compilation of this 2023-24 Annual Budget. It was shoddily done. Furthermore, explanations for increases are neither clear nor complete. So, ActionSA is of the opinion that this budget leaves much to be desired and we believe it's a real kick in the face of our hardworking and overburdened residents,” Sewraj pointed out.