Cape Town - About 380 public submissions and over 35 400 inputs were received by the City on its 2023/23 draft budget and during its 2022-2027 IDP public participation process, respectively.
The budget and the Integrated Development Plan were adopted by the council in a special sitting on Tuesday.
Residents will now see their rates increase by 5.2%, tariffs on refuse by 5%, water and sanitation by 5%, with an additional 1.5% specifically for expanding water access to the poorest residents living in informal settlements.
The biggest increase will come from electricity. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis previously said that because of Eskom’s 9.61% increase that was approved by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa), “we are bound to a 9.5% increase in electricity tariffs this year”.
The City said most electronic submissions were objections to the tariffs (water, refuse, electricity) and property rates.
Of the comments submitted to the finance department, the residents raised concerns over the increase in property rates and tariffs.
“Residents recommended that the social relief package be restructured based on disposable income rather than property value – especially for pensioners. They also requested the complete scrapping of property rates for places of worship and the reduction and revision of property rates for the hospitality sector.”
Energy department comments related to the above-inflation increase in the electricity tariffs and the difference between the City and Eskom’s end-user tariffs. Residents also requested the upgrading, maintenance and provision of public lighting.
Comments received by the water and sanitation department related to the lack of proper sewerage infrastructure and the scrapping of the fixed water charge.
Concerns about the high levels of crime across the City with requests for CCTV cameras, provision of mobile police stations, and improved law enforcement were received by the safety and security department.
Stop CoCT founder Sandra Dickson said the debate came late and was futile as the outcome of the budget could not be affected by the debate but was instead adopted immediately.
“As the budget was accepted immediately after this debate, it would be much more appropriate and a lot more useful if the budget was debated by the councillors and then time given for the comments to affect the budget.
“This, I believe, will largely increase the quality of the budget. Of concern is the question of whether anything was changed in the budget from when the draft budget was published.
“The debate and the mayor's speech did not shed any light on changes in the budget, if there were any,” she said.
Hill-Lewis said some proposals were at a level of detail beyond that of the IDP, and would be prioritised for analysis and action at the policy and programme level.
“We also received some excellent suggestions that require further analysis before we can create or expand a programme to respond. Those will be considered in the annual review of the IDP, and budgeted for accordingly,” he said.
READ MORE: Unpacking the City of Cape Town’s R61.5 billion draft budget