Today the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, will table a pro-poor budget which is committed to improving the lives of poor residents in the City and increasing service delivery to the people of Johannesburg.
The DA-led government in Johannesburg have inherited a massive service delivery backlog from the ANC and we have committed ourselves to put the people of Johannesburg first in our efforts to restore good governance and services.
The DA is confident that our coalition partners will put politics aside and support the people’s budget. Political grandstanding will not put the people first or solve the massive challenges facing the City.
Mayor Mashaba’s has worked hard to ensure that his budget is inclusive of poor and marginalised residents and rejuvenates service delivery in the City. Some of the main pro-poor budget allocations include:
- Pro-poor delivery
- Next year’s housing budget will be the largest ever in the City’s history at over R1.142 billion.
- R12.5 million for the rollout of 3 Mobile Clinics.
- R1.1 billion will be spent over the next 3 years to tar gravel roads in informal settlements.
- In 2018/19 the City will be extending the operating hours at another 13 clinics, bringing the number to 26.
- Infrastructure investment
- Over R1,2 billion on roads including; R250 million for road rehabilitation/reconstruction, R226 million for stormwater upgrades, R181 million on bridges.
- City Power has received R1 billion which will be used to upgrade key substations across the City and bring stability to the network.
- Over R900 million on the water network, expected to reduce the number of pipe bursts by 6 000 in 2018/19.
- Visible service delivery
- The City has doubled its budget for grass cutting and tree pruning from R107 million to R207 million in 2018/19.
- R45 million will be spent to install new public lighting across the City with the budget for street light repairs going from R1.6 million to R21 million in 2018/19.
- An additional R40 million has been allocated for road markings.
- Public safety and substance abuse
- R12.5 million on three more Community Substance Abuse Treatment Centres to bring the total to 9.
- R10 million for traffic calming measures.
By voting to pass this budget, together we can get to work and deliver long overdue services to those who need it most and continue to improve the lives of the residents of Johannesburg.