Maile's administrators may well burden Tshwane with a R1 billion unfunded budget
3 June 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has received reports that the funding of the proposed City of Tshwane budget for 2020/2021 is R1 billion short.
This is a massive deficit which could significantly undermine the city’s operations in the coming year.
It is critical that front line service delivery is prioritised in the budgeting process so that the business of the city is not disrupted.
Without stringent fiscal and financial management, the current ANC-imposed administrators run the risk of leaving the city in a far worse financial position and making it the problem of the city’s incoming political leadership.
No effort has been made to formally canvass the views of multiparty caucus members on how the budget should be implemented.
The administrators are willfully trying to put a budget together that they themselves will not be responsible for because they are only temporary and can walk away from the consequences.
When the political leadership is restored in the city the administrators will disappear and leave residents with this poorly crafted budget.
An unfunded budget will create serious problems in the future as the city will have to confront shortfalls on different projects as the financial year unfolds.
There is a need for departments across the city to make the necessary cuts in order to stabilise the finances of the city.
It requires strong leadership to see this through, particularly as the city will face shrinking revenue in the aftermath of Covid-19.
Now is the time for the enhanced rollout of cost cutting programmes to reduce unnecessary expenditure and conserve the city’s finances.
The city needs to preserve its revenue collection and begin rationalising where it can derive savings from areas such as its office portfolio, procurement of assets and overall staffing costs.
The budget is the most important financial process when it comes to running the city.
It is deeply concerning that now, in the month that it needs to be adopted, the administrators are not in a position to ensure that the budget is adequately funded and balanced.
Issued byRandall Williams,DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate, 3 June 2020
