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Plan requested to prevent NMB from losing millions in grant funding

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Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the mayor and acting city manager of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality requesting that they immediately intervene after National Treasury warned that it intends to withhold hundreds of millions of Rands in crucial conditional grant funding from the metro.

National Treasury has notified the acting city manager of its intention to withhold R262,5 million in grant funding. This decision is based on the municipality’s poor performance in spending its capital budget for the 2024/2025 financial year. As at 31 December 2024, the municipality had only spent R437,16 million (22,8%) of its R1,913 billion capital budget.

The ANC’s ineptitude is not the sole reason for the coalition government’s failure. Smaller parties, that prop up the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay’s coalition government, must also take responsibility. If this grant funding is lost, the metro will suffer an even more devastating collapse of service delivery, affecting every ward. The parties supporting the ANC will be equally culpable, unable to escape blame for the impending disaster.

National Treasury highlighted that the grant funding at risk includes:

  • Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant: R104,6 million
  • Urban Settlements Development Grant: R143,4 million
  • Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant: R14,5 million

The DA has previously stated that this inept ANC-led municipality is on track to repeat the mistakes of the 2023/2024 financial year, which saw a record loss of R580 million in conditional grant funding, and the warning from National Treasury underscores the metro will very possibly lose out again.

We have written to the mayor and acting city manager, demanding immediate feedback on how they plan to improve capital spending to placate National Treasury and prevent further grant funding losses.

Losing this funding would be catastrophic, depriving the local economy of direct investment and job creation opportunities. The ANC-led coalition government’s disregard for the financial well-being of the metro’s citizens is shocking, particularly given the cancellation of yet another Budget and Treasury Sub-Committee meeting. This committee conducts oversight over capital expenditure, but has not met in six months.

We will again demand an immediate sitting of the Budget Monitoring Sub-Committee and will table a motion to increase transparency in supply chain processes, facilitating faster tender awards.

Forfeiting hundreds of millions of Rands intended to support our communities and boost the economy is unacceptable.

The DA is in your corner fighting for you. Together we can get NMB working again.

Regards

Cllr Werner Senekal
DA NMB Spokesperson for Budget and Treasury

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