The residents living in the Lesedi Local Municipality area will once again struggle to access basic services after voting on the budget for the 2022/2023 financial year was deadlocked.

I have been reliably informed that 13 councilors voted for the budget and 13 councilors voted against.

What is even more distressing is that this budget was tabled as an unfunded one and that the Speaker who already voted as a councilor wanted to cast a deciding vote which is not allowed according to Section 160.2 of the Constitution.

An unfunded budget occurs when the revenue projections are unrealistic, operating expenditures are too high or you have an over ambitious capital budget.

The fact that the Speaker wanted to double vote in this week’s council meeting to pass the budget raises some serious questions and we are demanding that a legal explanation on the way forward be sought.

In accordance with existing legislation the DA demands that within seven days another meeting be scheduled to resolve the deadlock.

The deadline for all municipal budgets to be passed is the 30 June 2022.

If the unfunded budget is then approved, the DA is demanding that a funded budget strategy accompany the unfunded budget that will indicate how the budget will be funded during the current financial year.

It is very concerning that residents of the Lesedi Municipality will once again be subject to non-existent service delivery while they continue to pay their rates and taxes.

The DA has already reported this matter to the MEC for Finance, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko through the Gauteng Finance Portfolio Committee Chairperson as well as to the Deputy Director General for Local Governance, Owen Witbooi from the Gauteng Provincial Treasury.

 

Issued by DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Finance and e-Government Adriana Randall