OR Tambo District Municipality is currently implementing 122 infrastructure, water and sanitation projects, at various stages, across the district municipal area’s jurisdiction worth hundreds of millions of rand
Presenting his Section 116 (3) (d) report for the projects, the executive mayor, Mesuli Ngqondwana, said the total budget allocation from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant for the 2024/ 2025 financial year was R720.3 million.
“Expenditure as of the end of December 2024 amounts to R360.5 million, equivalent to 50% of the total allocation. A total of 100 contracts are under implementation with some as multi-year to still be implemented during the 2025/2026 financial year,” Ngqondwana said.
The Rural Bulk Infrastructure Grant total allocation was R291.1 million and the district authority had spent R144.6 million by the end of December 2024 with Ngqondwana equating it to 50% expenditure. He said nine out of 10 projects on the Project Implementation Plan were under construction with the last one on procurement. Of the R100 million set aside from the Water Services Infrastructure Grant, the district authority had spent R34.2 million – 34% of the amount.
“The department (of Human Settlements) is implementing contracts through the Emergency Housing Grant at an approved allocation of R935 million. There are 33 contracts throughout the OR Tambo jurisdiction.
“In Port St Johns Local Municipality (LM) there are seven contracts with an allocated budget of R274.5 million budget; Ingquza Hill LM has six contracts at a budget of R215.5 million and King Mhlontlo LM has an allocation of R178.9 million. There is R212.9 million set aside for nine contracts in King Sabata Dalindyebo LM and R53.2 million will fund the four projects in Nyandeni LM.
“Challenges experienced are that the late payment of value-created invoices by the Provincial Department of Human Settlements to the municipality leads to the late payment of service providers/ contractors,” Ngqondwana said there were delays in the finalisation of the quantum adjustment for projects assigned to the district municipality by the provincial Human Settlements Department.
An amount of R62 million has been spent of the budgeted R69 million for the construction of a disaster centre in Nyandeni LM with 93% of “physical progress”. However, the programme is not without its challenges.
Ngqondwana said, “The (disaster centre) project has been faced with (a) lack of a full budget to complete; as a result, it depends on the financial year allocation of the Equitable Share funding and that has made the project to take longer than the 18-month plan for completion.”
