2 days ago
MLM expands CCTV, upgrades infrastructure in new budget rollout
Midvaal Local Municipality (MLM) is among the few municipalities in Gauteng to adopt a fully funded budget.
This is after the unanimous decision to approve the 2025/2026 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (MTREF) and Integrated Development Plan.
This means that MLM has enough capital to cover all planned expenditures, including operational and capital costs. According to MLM, the Draft Integrated Development Plan and MTREF came after months of consultations with various communities and stakeholders across the municipality.
The Gauteng budget 2.0 for the 2025/26 financial year is R172.3b, an increase of some R886.6m from the budget tabled earlier this year.
As Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, tabled the Gauteng budget 2.0 for the 2025/26 financial year recently, he raised a serious concern that only four municipalities in Gauteng have tabled funded budgets while the rest remain unfunded.
According to the municipality, the R2b 2025/2026 MTREF was drafted with careful consideration of the challenging economic climate facing the people of Midvaal, as well as the wider challenges faced by South Africa.
This, MLM believes, showcases a government that prioritises the well-being and interests of its residents. The revenue budgeted for the year is R2.126b, an increase of 9.79% over the current year's budgeted revenue.
Key service delivery projects included in this budget is R69m to replace old asbestos pipes using the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG). Phase 3 of the electrification of Sicelo in Ext 5 (Silahliwe) continues.
In previous budgets, MLM allocated funding for Phases 1 and 2 in Kuvukiland and Stand 118.
A total of R26m will be geared towards the construction of a substation in Savanna City, which will increase electricity capacity to support future housing developments.
'A total of R27m has been set aside in the 2024/25 budget from loan finance for road rehabilitation and the conversion of gravel roads to tar. A further R22m is allocated in the 2025/26 financial year to continue with rehabilitation and gravel-to-tar upgrades.'
Furthermore, the MLM said it will give rebates of 25% and 50% on property rates.
'The threshold for qualification has been extended to five times the value of the SASSA Old Age Pension Grant, which equates to approximately R11 000.'
MLM reveals that it has procured two high-speed vehicles for crime prevention purposes.
'We have made provision for the employment of law enforcement officers who will drive these high-speed vehicles, working alongside our CCTV cameras and other safety mechanisms to curb criminal activities in our municipality. The rollout of CCTV cameras in the Western and Northern regions has commenced, while a significant portion of the budget is being used to maintain existing cameras.'
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