Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla outlines budget plans to stabilise finances, boost economy
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Msunduzi Municipality mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla has committed his administration to addressing key challenges faced by the municipality, stabilising its finances, and growing the city's economy.
The mayor tabled the City's budget for the 2025-2026 financial year on Wednesday. The budget comes as the municipality is operating in a financially challenging environment, including that it owes R2 billion to uMngeni-uThukela Water and Eskom.
Addressing the council, the mayor said, 'In formulating this budget, we have ensured that it is based on a financially sound plan that will stabilise the City's finances while prioritising service delivery for all.'
He added that one of the core priorities is to stabilise the City's finances, and this can only be achieved by capacitating their revenue collection work streams to support the Operation Qoqimali campaign.
'A project management office has been established to take charge of each aspect of the City's revenue value chain. This includes rolling out prepaid electricity meters, dispatching bills, speedily resolving disputes, as well as implementing credit control and debt collection measures, such as issuing summons against debtors.
'We have already issued almost 40,000 letters of demand to defaulting consumers who run up high service bills and fail to pay the City. We thank those who have been paying their bills on time and in full, and we call on those who have not to make payment arrangements or apply to the Affordability Committee for debt relief,' he continued.
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He emphasised that it is important for the public to be aware that electricity theft is a crime and that all forms of illegal connections are a criminal offence. This is not a faceless crime; electricity theft costs the City tens of millions in lost revenue per year.
'This is stealing much-needed revenue from the City and denying fellow residents enhanced service delivery. To combat this, we will continue to work with communities and law enforcement to arrest offenders and impose hefty penalties,' said the mayor.
'The budget speech we are tabling today seeks to sustain the momentum we have built in accelerating the shared growth of our economy, creating new opportunities for employment through service delivery and fighting poverty, building healthy and safe communities, deepening democracy, and building an effective and caring municipality.
'Msunduzi is the home of a dream that refuses to die, a dream that says tomorrow must be better than today. The same faith that carried us through the darkness now fuels our pursuit of renewal and progress. For 30 years, we have built, we have endured, and we have risen. We are a city that carries the weight of history and the hope of the future. We are the home of heroes and heroines, of liberation songs and labour anthems, of sorrow turned into strength,' the mayor concluded.
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