The PA has once again supported the ANC/EFF Doomsday Coalition in Johannesburg by passing a completely nonsensical budget. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg again rejected the Johannesburg Budget in no uncertain terms.
Our position has always been that the Johannesburg Council must be dissolved. Our decision to exclude the PA from any possible coalition talks has been vindicated by its decision to cost rate payers more, while delivering less.
The budget passed in council yesterday severely short changes the residents of Johannesburg while unrealistically increasing tariffs in the city. While residents face a cost-of-living crisis, the executive in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) forces resident to pay more for services they fail to deliver.
The ANC/EFF/PA/Al Ja-ah Mah Doomsday Coalition in Joburg has brought the city to its knees, while emptying the city’s coffers at every opportunity. This budget, alongside the tariff increases residents now have to suffer, is a farce and will only result in a deepening sense of mistrust and dissent towards the Johannesburg executive.
While promises of 5000 housing units to the poor and vulnerable were made during the Doomsday coalitions campaign activities, the allocated R3.2 billion will likely not be spent since R1.2 billion in grants were returned to National Treasury already.
They failed those who need help most, by not only forgetting them when planning projects, but by not even ensuring that routine maintenance and upkeep takes place.
Last week, their budget failed because of consistent political infighting in their coalition. So much so, that the leader of the Patriotic Alliance assured residents his party would not vote alongside their failing coalition partners.
This week, however, a budget that does not prioritise basic service delivery was passed in the Joburg Council Chamber with no regard for the residents of the city. The cost of sanitation in the city will increase with 7.7% while rubbish lines our street, and the most basic elements of service delivery fail.
The only thing this budget will achieve is to ensure that lights stay off, taps stay dry, and service delivery stays on the backfoot.
The ANC/EFF/PA/Al Ja-ah Mah coalition is securing Joburg’s place as a once prosperous world class African city, now on the brink of collapse.