Improved and properly maintained infrastructure, the growth of new suburbs, the empowering of businesses owned by women and an improved safety-net package are just some of Buffalo City's priorities for the 2007-08 financial year.
These were identified by Executive Mayor Zintle Peter when she tabled her second State of the City address and budget at a special council meeting at the East London City Hall on Tuesday, 29 May. The City will spend R2, 6-billion in the 2007-08 financial year.
Before outlining the budget highlights, Peter looked at the City's successes during the previous financial year.
"On the service-delivery front, we must give credit primarily to our engineers for once again ensuring, for the fifth successive year, that 100 percent of our Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding has been spent in their financial year."
Peter said that this pattern of success from City engineers had led to a significant increase in the allocation of MIG funding to Buffalo City over the period of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
"The national Treasury is becoming more confident of Buffalo City's commitment and capacity to utilise these resources."
Some of the successes grew out of the Mayoral Imbizo project, which aimed to identify residents' concerns. "Because of the Mayoral Imbizo project, new streetlights are being installed in various areas of Buffalo City where needs are most pressing, gravel roads are being bladed or regravelled and a number of surfaced roads that were in a serious state of disrepair are being resurfaced to extend their life-span," she added.
During the 2006-07 financial year a number of electrical projects, valued at R60-million, were successfully completed on behalf of the provincial government. These included the electrification of schools in Duncan Village, Mzamo'mhle, Mdantsane, Tyutyu and the Airport Residential area.
Turning her attention to the next financial year, Peter said that although it had awarded a minimum of 60 percent of contracts to companies that had previously disadvantaged individuals credentials in the 2006-07 financial year, the City should consider businesses led by women in the next financial year.
"Considering the challenges of empowerment of women, who are often doubly disadvantaged, I intend to recommend to the council in the new financial year - and I call upon you all for your support - that the target for contracts awarded specifically to companies in which women have a majority stake should be increased to not less than 10&bsp;percent."
Looking at the unemployment rate, which has increased to 39 percent, Peter said that the City needed to do something to tackle this challenge. However, despite the difficulties it faced, 78 percent of its residents still trusted the municipality.
"We have challenges, but we have opportunities as well. I believe that we stand on the threshold of a significant upswing in investment in our city's coastal areas, facilitated by the good offices of the Buffalo City Development Agency, together with the real prospect of success for the municipality's efforts to unlock Transnet properties for development," she said.
The upswing would get a further boost as the City wanted to offer itself as a base camp for a 2010 Fifa World Cup™ team, and improve its profile as a tourist destination.
"Our property market has shown growth far beyond inflation for a number of years, even in historically disadvantaged areas. This has included a welcome recovery for the inland property market over the past three years," she added.
Car maker DaimlerChrysler had also shown confidence in the city, making a R2-billion investment into the manufacturing of the next generation C Class Mercedes Benz.
The mayor said that the City would spend R2,366-billion on operational functions and a further R372-million on capital projects. "It is a budget that recognises the struggles of those on the margins of our economy by increasing by 15 percent the welfare package of free basic services, to an average amount of R237,56 per household."
Peter said the budget recognised the urgency of critical infrastructural disintegration by increasing the allocation for repairs and maintenance by more than 25 percent in 2007-08, and a further 30 percent in 2008-09.
"I wish to highlight particularly an innovation that Buffalo City first introduced during this financial year, namely the special Mayoral Projects that arose as a direct response to the needs of communities identified during our imbizo consultation programme," Peter added.
"These were largely funded out of savings identified from the operating budget to the tune of almost R18-million in 2006-07. In view of the ongoing success of these projects, I am asking the council to approve that this amount be increased in the coming financial year to R30-million."
Turning to housing, the mayor said the City had secured more than R40-million for the continuous development of the Reeston, Potsdam, Manyano, Thembelihle and Tyutyu projects. In the next financial year water backlogs would be addressed, with the largest project to supply the Needs Camp and Ncera areas, costed at R15-million.
The City would spend a further R15-million on upgrading pedestrian crossings in Mdantsane, especially close to schools and in other high risk areas.
"We will continue to offer support to in excess of 50 000 households in the broader Buffalo City who are not able to meet the costs of basic services, while extending the net of our billing system to those who are able to pay," Peter said.
Source: buffalocity.gov.za
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