The budget for key projects in the Saldanha Bay municipal area was approved on Tuesday 31 May.
This is the council’s first after its members were elected seven months ago.
Executive Mayor André Truter said he has identified six strategic focus areas he hopes council will consider for adoption next year.
Along with economy, safety, innovation, services, financial and institutional viability, he also placed a focus on collaboration/moral regeneration.
The budget for the next three years will fund projects in the municipal area including sewerage projects, road infrastructure, the development of a new municipal building, long-term financial planning as well as the Saldanha Bay Municipality’s part in the Western Cape Municipal Energy Resilience (MER) project.
The local municipality, along with neighbouring Swartland, forms part of a provincial pilot project seeing local government become less dependent on the national electricity grid and Eskom.
The last key project will entail security cameras in all 14 wards.
“The safety of tour citizens is of great importance to me,” Truter explained at the council meeting. “In the 2023-’23 budget the council has provided R10 million to erect cameras in all the wards. This includes the monitoring aspect.”
Aside from safety, municipal rates is also of great interest to residents and it seems more residents are finding it difficult to keep with living costs. Between 2018 and 2021, 2 847 additional households applied for free basic services. According to Truter, 25% of households in the municipal area are indigent, while even more households qualify but do not apply for subsidies.
All households will, however also feel more of a squeeze on their budget with the annual tariff increase.
Aside from water, which will see no annual rate increase, electricity will be 7,47% more expensive, property rates 10%, refuse removal 4%, sanitation 11% and all other tariffs 4% are also on the rise.
