The City of Tshwane has channelled at least R37 million into chemicals and waste water purification at the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant, which was identified as the source of dirty water supplied to people in Hammanskraal and surrounding areas.
This surfaced during Thursday’s ordinary council sitting at Tshwane House when multiparty coalition partners passed the adjustment budget.
Finance MMC Jacqui Uys said R12m of the Rooiwal budget would come from the City’s coffers while R25m was from the Development Bank of Southern Africa grant.
Other noteworthy items adjusted upwards on the operating expenditure, included R11,7m going into housing top structures, R54m for water tankers and R22m for water credit control and audit of meters.
For electricity credit control, which is connections and disconnections of power supply, an amount of R50m was set aside.
Household refuse removal would now stand at R75m while the Illegal dumping budget was adjusted to R20m.
Both urban management and watchman services budgets were adjusted at R15m and R305,6m, respectively.
Uys said: “Capital expenditure allocations include R40m for road refurbishment, R8,7m for workshop equipment to grow our own artisans and R13m for the townlands social housing project.”
She hailed the passing of the adjustment budget, saying it demonstrated the commitment of the multiparty administration to accelerate service delivery despite the City’s difficult financial position.
“This is a significant development that will help drive service delivery and improve our financial stability,” she said.
She explained that the adjusted budget process provided a municipality with an opportunity to make key revisions to the approved original budget for the current financial year.
“This is done in response to changes that have affected the City’s finances and original planned spending,” she said.
Despite the City’s difficult financial situation, Uys said thorough work was done to assess the City’s performance during the first half of the financial year, based on service delivery and revenue collection targets.
ActionSA caucus leader Jackie Mathabathe said his party supported the adjustment budget and acknowledged its limitations and their effect on the increases of salaries and service delivery.
“We understand the frustrations and struggles faced by our workforce, and we empathise with the demands of everyday life. The coalition government is acutely aware of the need for improved wages and services, and we are working tirelessly to address these pressing issues,” he said.
He said the provision of clean water to the people of Hammanskraal was one priority his party could not overlook.
“This remains a cornerstone of our commitment to improving the lives of our citizens, and we will not waver in our dedication to this important cause. When we embarked on this term of office, one of our primary priorities was to ensure that the people of Hammanskraal have access to clean water,” Mathabathe said.
Pretoria News