GEORGE NEWS - In his address to George Council last Thursday, 28 July, Mayor Leon van Wyk gave a macro view of the work that has been undertaken across George, saying it had an impact on each and every ward.
"With this being the first council meeting of the 2022/23 financial year, I thought it would be appropriate to review the activities and achievements of the six months from January to June 2022," he said.
In his six-page-speech Van Wyk touched on significant challenges with infrastructure, in particular water pipe breakages and damage due to load-shedding; the reworking of their capital and operating budget philosophy; new staffing regulations and the continuous challenge to meet the daily water needs.
"During the adjustment budget, Council approved the spending of R6,3m on improvements to streetlights, but on the negative side the municipality had to spend R7,5m on dealing with illegal dumping," said Van Wyk.
He said the anti-land invasion unit had incurred expenses of R12,8m and a further R2,3m in overtime costs to deal with illegal invasions. Cable theft is another scourge that is costing the municipality millions. He said he did not have the total cost in hand, but in June 2022 alone, the municipality had to deal with 101 incidents.
The electrotechnical directorate requested funding of R10,5m to under-take preventative maintenance to their network, starting with large transformers. Illegal electrical connections amounted to a municipal cost of R2,5m.
"The first draft financial statements for the year ended 30 June indicate that the overall debtor's collection rate reached 96,69%, which is an excellent improvement on the 93,8% achieved for the 2020/21 financial year," said Van Wyk.
"Every additional 1% represents approximately R18m that ultimately assists in service delivery or capital spending for our communities. Billings for the year increased by 12,68% year on year. For the Jan-Jun period, there is a more significant increase of 14,24% in 2022 when compared to 2021."
From the opposition benches
PBI's Virgill Gericke said the municipality is busy with crisis management all the time and is not getting to the real work that needs to be done. "The call is for you to stabilise the political and economic climate so that citizens can benefit from the policies and from the programmes rolled out by National Government."
He said Van Wyk is boasting about the supply of water and their new strategy in terms of infrastructure. He asked Van Wyk to explain what happened to the waste water purification works that was built many years ago at a cost of R120m.
Pheliswa Qampi of the EFF questioned the quest to keep George green, saying it won't address the community's basic needs.
The PA's Sedric Smart said it is clear to him that Van Wyk is only fighting for a first-world community. "We are very disappointed." He said he would like to see figures, and not only hear about the blooming tourism season. "Poor people aren't tourists," said Smart.
Johan du Toit of the ACDP said if people can be educated to refrain from illegal dumping, millions can be saved.
FF Plus Councillor Gert van Niekerk said there are many challenges. "However, there is at least visible evidence that these challenges are being addressed," said Van Niekerk. "Alternative electricity is a priority and it is to the benefit of the whole of George."
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