Additional grants welcomed

GEORGE NEWS - At the George council meeting last Thursday, 28 April, Mayor Leon van Wyk handled the tabling of the 2021/2022 adjustment budget, as well as the quarterly budget monitoring report for the third quarter, January to March 2022.

Adjustment budget

George Municipality received an additional R4 250 000 municipal grant for an electrification programme, as well as an additional R26 597 000 in the form of a public transport network grant, both for the 2021/2022 financial year.

The third item relates to a transfer of R1-million from the Garden Route District Municipality which came through in March 2022 as a contribution towards the microenterprise facilities in Pacaltsdorp that will allocate trading space to informal traders.

PBI's Virgill Gericke told George Herald this week that they've been told the money is budgeted to roll out the small markets in Mission Street.

"The PBI welcomes the allocation of funds for this facility. This is in fact what we've been fighting for all along. However, parking is a major problem in that vicinity. It is pointless to construct a facility where clients will not be able to park. It defeats the entire purpose of that project, as business activity will be limited to pedestrians and walk-in clients only."

DA's Dirk Wessels said the municipality is receiving additional grants. He said it has happened a number of times in the past twelve months. "This speaks purely to the ability to deliver services for the communities."

Responding to the adjustment budget, ANC Councillor Thembinkosi Lento said they do not support the recommendation, adding that they are concerned about the absence of gunplast (plastic sheeting used to secure informal housing) and temporary structures on the adjustment budget.

Gericke too expressed his concern, saying it is a disgrace that no funding has been allocated for emergency structures. He said we are entering the winter months and the poor are in great need of material to assist them through the year's coldest season and with housing emergencies. "We have to soebat (plead) for our people," he said.

Gericke also called on the mayor to sort out the public transport system. "There are only five years left of the 12-year contract. If we don't sort out that public transport system, after the 12 years we may end up in a mess where people will not have transport. There will be violence in that industry and therefore I call on the ruling coalition to make haste, to intervene there on an urgent basis. If there is no intervention, the buses will end up on blocks, like in Port Elizabeth, and there will be no mobility for our people."

Wessels replied that the adjustment budget concentrates on funding allocated for specific projects.

He said Gericke is welcome to write a question regarding matters such as the gunplast, which can be dealt with in another council meeting. "We have budgeted in the new financial year for the delivering of basic services and obviously that is of utmost importance."

Quarterly budget

Van Wyk said he believes the municipality's finances are very stable. "If we look at operating income and operating expenditure, we will notice that we are 1% ahead in terms of revenue and we are about 2% behind in terms of operating expenditure. That is a very sound position to be in.

"With regard to our capital expenditure, we had a plan to date of R218-million, and we achieved just short of R216-million, so we are about 1% out over there. Naturally in this last quarter, we've got a fair amount of work to be done, well over R215-million, and I believe the administration will make all efforts there to ensure that that money is spent.

"If we look at our debtor's collection over the nine-month period since July 2021 we will note that we have collected at 96,4%, which is a pretty good state of affairs. We trust that administration can increase that further, because every 1% on our collection rate represents an additional R16-million in cash flow.

"If we look at our monthly billings, the average for the nine months to date is R136-million, which is very satisfactory, and it reflects what appears to be a reasonable increase on 2021 and 2020. We entered Covid during March 2020 and we then saw a dipping of billings at that stage. There were billings of only about R90-million entering the system at that stage. And in March 2021 this figure was about R94-million. So, the current R136-million certainly represents a much higher level of business."

Listen to the recording of the meeting:

One of the infrastructure projects of the George Municipality is the upgrade and capacity extension capacity from 15Ml/dl to 25Ml/dl of the George Wastewater Treatment Works.