MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Coalition Government Delivers

By

Dear MyPE

Two years ago the DA-led coalition government in the Nelson Mandela Bay inherited a municipality left in a dire financial state by the African National Congress (ANC).

As one of its pillars the coalition government promised NMB residents a well-run city, the current financial position and the positive steps in fighting corruption underlines the work being done to fulfil this promise made.

The rooting out of corrupt senior officials, securing and monitoring of SCM offices and opening up of the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) to the public has turned around the City’s finances and SCM and ensured that every penny is accounted for. The City has uncovered R615 million worth of corruption and irregularities.

NMB is now liquid with over R2.5 billion in the bank and recently received a AAA credit rating. The City also received a windfall Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) allocation of R178.8 million on top of the R911 million received at the beginning of the financial year.

The City has succeeded in spending close to R1.1 billion on capital works that has directly improved the lives of the poor and made for better service delivery. The improved finances of the Metro gave the government the opportunity to put together a second successive pro-poor budget for the 2018/19 financial year.

Some of the highlights of the 2018/19 budget are:

• Lowest basket of tariff increases in nearly 20 years;
• Lowest basket of tariff increases of all metropolitan cities;
• The Operating Budget of R10,3 Billion and the Capital Budget of R1.74 Billion constitutes is the largest budget ever adopted for NMB;
• An amount of R2.2 billion towards Assistance of the Poor over the mid-term revenue expenditure framework (MTREF);
• An amount of R45 Million set aside for the acquisition of land for housing development;
• R300 Million to be spent on the tarring of gravel roads over the MTREF;
• Substantial upgrades to both the Fishwater Flats as well as the KwaNobuhle Waste Water Treatment Works;
• Substantially increased capital budgets for historically neglected areas such as the Uitenhage – KwaNobuhle node and the Northern Areas;
• R1 Billion to be spent on water infrastructure upgrades over the MTREF period; and
• Cost coverage of nearly three months.

The ANC is only interested in returning to power to steal the city again. With R2.5 billion in the bank, NMB is in its best financial position in years and the ANC has now fixed its sights on undoing the progress achieved by the DA-led coalition government.

The recent statement by ANC Cllr Gidane that since the ANC lost power its regional office has run out of money was an admission that the ANC was using public money for party political purposes. It is evident they are now coming after the R2.5 billion in the bank to prop up their bankrupt party.

The DA-led coalition is focussed on service delivery and will not be derailed by outside influences seeking to hand the City back to the corrupt ANC. We will continue making progress in NMB.

Regards

Nqaba Bhanga
DA EC Provincial Leader

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Flickr profileMy Pinterest profile

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.