GEORGE NEWS - In a matter of pure coincidence, the first ordinary George council meeting for the year took place on Mayor Leon van Wyk's birthday on Thursday 26 January.
Less than a week later, on Tuesday 31 January, George Council met again for a special council meeting. These meetings were jam-packed with information and reports.
Small drama
The 10:00 meeting last Thursday was postponed to 12:00 due to the load-shedding schedule, but was further delayed by an hour when a group of opposition councillors from the ANC, Good Party, PBI, EFF and PA occupied the second floor of George Municipality, demanding access to the council chambers.
At present all meetings are still being held on a virtual platform due to space constraints and safety precautions.
Speaker Sean Snyman confirmed that only two opposition parties (ANC and Good) requested venues for the meeting last Thursday.
He said both parties were notified of the two venues made available to them and those venues were prepared accordingly. A third venue was prepared in the event it was required.
Good Councillor Theresa Jeyi at the time said there is no good reason why they can't all have access to the chambers, since the group is small enough with just over 20 people.
Discussions followed and an hour later the group settled in the council chambers. "In terms of the National Building Regulations, the council chamber can accommodate 33 persons," said Municipal Spokesperson Chantèl Edwards.
"Due to the fact that the opposition councillors total 24 persons, the request could be acceded to. The existing council chambers are not large enough for a full council meeting, with the attendance of the required councillors and officials totalling 70 persons."
Portfolio Councillor for Finance Dirk Wessels
Nice to know
• Council resolved on 26 January to exchange a portion of land belonging to the new Mediclinic site with a portion that belongs to George Municipality to facilitate the building of the new traffic circles in York Street.
• George Municipality was allocated additional grant funding by the Western Cape Provincial Treasury in December last year. The adjustment budget was tabled last Thursday to reflect the grant allocations and amend the Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP). A sum of almost R60m (R59 943 000) is awarded to the George Integrated Public Transport Network Operations Grant; R4m to the Human Settlements Development Grant Beneficiaries for housing administration, and the sum of R1,45m to Financial Services from the Western Cape Financial Management Capability Grant.
• Council was informed of a proposal for the establishment of a George Municipality Community Safety Forum (CSF). The CSF is an inclusive multi-sectoral structure that would champion the coordination, integration and implementation of community safety initiatives to prevent crime and violence. The forum is designed to target the root causes of different types of crimes prevalent at local government level. The role of George Municipality is to chair and ensure the maintenance of the CSF in collaboration with the local organising committee.
Speaker Sean Snyman
Budget, finances and load-shedding
A special council meeting took place on Tuesday 31 January, during which the mid-year budget performance assessment was reported to council. This is a report on the implementation of the budget and the financial state of affairs of the municipality for the period 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2022, the first semester of the 2022/23 financial year.
Portfolio Councillor for Finance Dirk Wessels said the municipality shows a positive cash flow and that George Municipality faces no financial risk.
"Electricity causes a big under-collection, but there is a saving on bulk purchases that is estimated at just under R15m," he said. In his explanation to George Herald, Wessels said because of the increased levels of load-shedding, people buy and use much less electricity than what the municipality budgeted for. In the same breath, this results in less electricity being purchased by the municipality too, and can be viewed as a saving.
"The electricity trends are currently being monitored carefully to ensure that we are able to mitigate the risk of load-shedding," said Wessels.
Good Councillor Theresa Jeyi
Draft Annual Report
The tabling of the Draft Annual Report was next in line. Mayor Leon van Wyk said he is very proud that George is the only non-metro municipality to be awarded the budget facility infrastructure grant, the BFI, out of 17 public sector institutions that applied for this grant.
The BFI has increased the total planned capital budget over the three-year period to over R2b, which is double the value of the previous period.
Wessels said the clean audit opinion for the second year running shows that council has a sound financial system.
"The capital budget of over R1b is showing that George is growing at a phenomenal pace, and we are creating infrastructure to keep up with the influx (BFI grant). For the 21/22 financial year, George has increased its payment ratio to 96,69%. In other words, most citizens are paying their rates and taxes, which is a tremendous help to keep the municipality financially strong."
The public is encouraged to provide written inputs or comments on the draft report. The full report will be available on the municipal website and at the offices of the municipality for a period of 21 days.
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