The Ekurhuleni mayoral committee for finance presented its draft budget for public comment recently and the DA is encouraging all residents of the metro to actively participate.<\/p>\n
\u201cTougher times are certainly on the cards as middle income households in Ekurhuleni are going to see an approximate increase of 8.3 per cent in monthly living expenses, while lower income households will see a 9 per cent increase,\u201d said Clr Bruce Reid, DA shadow MMC for finance.<\/p>
\u201cThe difficulties remain with the highest unemployment rate in Gauteng and this dire situation is hampering the metro\u2019s financial sustainability and hindering future economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Land availability and ownership are highly contested issues in the country.<\/p>
It is even more pressing where income in Ekurhuleni is concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, the metro currently has over 41 000 vacant stands, with a total value of over R14-billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 44 per cent of these vacant stands are owned by the municipality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy has the mayor not utilised this land for housing for the people of Ekurhuleni?<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, only R512-million is received in municipal rates from these vacant properties out of a total rates bill of R5.6-b,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n
He added that the metro could increase the tariff for vacant land from four times to at least eight times the rate in the Rand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would increase the revenue by over R500-m and would encourage the land owners to develop housing on the vacant land.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeventy per cent of the metro\u2019s revenue is generated from service charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy building houses on these vacant stands revenue will increase substantially, which could be used to reduce the unemployment rate,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne glimmer of hope from this draft budget is that the capital spend will increase from R5.1-b to R6.2-b and the metro will be spending more on maintenance than the value at which the assets are depreciating.\u201d<\/p>\n
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