Joburg budget hanging by a thread: ANC fights to get their way as partners gun for them
Johannesburg City Council meeting at the Connie Bapela House in Braamfontein. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
Coalition partners in the City of Johannesburg have expressed outrage at the latest budget, putting it at risk of not being passed in council.
Finance MMC Margaret Arnolds on Wednesday presented the City's R89 billion plan to boost service delivery and increase revenue collection.
The presentation contained proposals for increase in tariffs for water and wastewater, electricity, and property rates, among other charges.
The City also maintained a R200 surcharge that remains a thorny issue among coalition partners.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said one of the reasons his party supported mayor Dada Morero was that the ANC had agreed to scrap the burdensome surcharge.
He claimed he was told it would not be in the latest budget, only to be surprised by its inclusion this week.
'This charge punishes low-income residents who rely on prepaid meters to avoid debt, with no published cost-of-supply to justify it. While the proposed increase to R270 was dropped, the core injustice persists,' he said.
Will ActionSA block the budget?
He claimed not to have been consulted on the budget and would make his feelings known when council votes on passing the fiscal framework on Thursday.
'We will never vote in favour of a budget that sustains unjust charges on the poor, enables financial mismanagement, or ignores basic service delivery failures.
'We stand with the people of Johannesburg, and we vote accordingly,' he said.
How many votes does the ANC need to pass budget?
There are 270 seats in council. The ANC would need 136 votes to pass the budget.
Below is the breakdown of seats by party in the City.
African National Congress (ANC): 91 seats
91 seats Democratic Alliance (DA): 71 seats
71 seats ActionSA: 44 seats
44 seats Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): 29 seats
29 seats Patriotic Alliance (PA): 8 seats
8 seats Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): 7 seats
7 seats Freedom Front Plus (VF PLUS): 4 seats
4 seats African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP): 3 seats
3 seats Al Jama-ah (ALJAMA): 3 seats
3 seats African Independent Congress (AIC): 2 seats
2 seats African Heart Congress (AHC): 1 seat
1 seat African People's Convention (APC): 1 seat
1 seat African Transformation Movement (ATM): 1 seat
1 seat Congress of the People (COPE): 1 seat
1 seat GOOD: 1 seat
1 seat Pan Africanist Congress (PAC): 1 seat
1 seat United Democratic Movement (UDM): 1 seat
1 seat United Independent Movement (UIM): 1 seat
While ActionSA voted with the government of local unity (GLU) coalition to bring Morero to power, Mashaba said the party only votes with the ANC on an issue-by-issue basis.
There were talks that one day ActionSA would be included in the governance structures of the city, but for now, they only occupy positions in the legislature.
Morero running a puppet council?
Mashaba said he had lost faith in Morero's leadership, and claimed he was running a puppet council.
He claimed to have reported the mayor to the ANC's mother body for allegedly saying that he had appointed Arnolds to control her.
'I know Margaret, you could see she did not understand what she was reading. Dada told me he had appointed her because he could control her,' he said.
The Citizen has reached out to Morero's office, the ANC in Johannesburg, and the City of Johannesburg for comment on this claim. Any update will be included once received.
GLU partner slams budget
The African People's Convention (APC) also disapproves of the budget.
'Only a mere R3 billion is allocated to the poor communities. This budget does not speak to the needs and expectations of the previously disadvantaged communities who continue to live in squalor conditions whilst the city prioritizes the affluent areas of the metropole.
'It does not effectively address the common crime in the CBD, nor does it address the continued shortage of water supply in Joburg,' said the party in a statement.
It said it would adopt the budget with reservations and raise the issues it has within the council.
Parties outside of GLU won't vote for budget either
The second biggest party in the council, after the ANC, the DA was also expected to vote against the budget.
They will be joined by African Democratic Christian Party (ACPD).
ACDP councillor Norman Mkhonza told The Citizen the allocations in the budget were 'all over the place'.
He also questioned the City's ambitions to put sewage pipes and electricity in informal settlements.
'So, are they saying is they are promoting illegality. Do they know who stays in these informal settlements and if those people are even legal in the country,' he said.
ALSO READ: DA tables motion of no confidence in Johannesburg mayor and speaker
No budget could spell disaster for the City
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast told The Citizen that in a coalition all members should be consulted on matters.
'When there is power sharing, it means that there is no political party that has won elections. Therefore, there must be a consensus across the spectrum.
'If this does not happen, it means it is a serious omission that might cause a serious threat to the stability of the municipality,' he said.
Breakfast warned that if the municipality takes time to adopt the budget, it could affect service delivery in the City.
NOW READ: How Joburg plans to spend R89 billion
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