The Makhado Municipality approved a very ambitious budget of almost R700 million on Friday night, which includes obtaining a loan of R100 million from an unmentioned source.

As was expected, the rise in electricity tariffs was severe. This is largely a result of the increases implemented by Eskom, the bulk supplier of electricity to the Council. According to the mayor of Makhado, Cllr Mavhungu Luruli, the National Electricity Regulator (NERSA) proposed a 26,71% increase, but Council capped it at 20,38%. Other services such as refuse removal, water and sewerage will rise by 4,8%.

Judging by the mayor’s speech, more efforts will go into the quest to achieve a clean audit in 2012. For the past two years, the municipality has received adverse reports from the auditor general. “The municipal manager is championing our Operation Clean Audit project, and our aim is to get Makhado Municipality’s first clean audit by June 2014 at the latest,” she said. She attributed Council’s poor performance in this regard to poor supply chain management, asset management and the conduct of staff.

The national theme, namely job creation, was echoed in the mayor’s budget speech. The local municipality plans on implementing more labour-intensive methods when doing maintenance. The municipality also wants to engage other government departments, such as the Department of Public Works, and encourage them to utilize local unemployed people.

The supply of fresh water to the numerous villages in the Makhado Municipality is still a priority, according to the mayor. Although this function falls under the Vhembe District Municipality, the service is rendered via the Makhado Municipality. In this regard, the Vhembe District has approached the Department of Water Affairs and also hopes to obtain a Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to fund a bulk pipeline project to bring water from Valdezia to Louis Trichardt, which should augment the capacity of the Albasini system. The project will also benefit the communities in the Kutama and Sinthumule areas.

Most of the budget speech centred on the capital expenditure, which is estimated at just below R217 million. These projects will be funded by a R100 million loan and a R55,5 Municipal Infrastructure Grant. Council also hopes to use R57,7 million derived from income for capital projects, whereas the Integrated National Electrification Programme will provide R3,5 million.

The R100 million loan is earmarked for upgrading the electricity network at the Makhado main substation, as well as the Levubu Ribolwa area. The remainder of the loan must assist with the upgrading of the bulk electricity supply to Tshipise, Tshitutuni and Mudimeli.

Several roads are also earmarked for regravelling or tarring. R7,5 million is budgeted for tarring streets in Eltivillas Extension 1 and R10 million goes towards retarring the Eltivillas CBD. Streets in Tshikota (R5 million), Waterval (R6 million) and Tshivhulanana (R1 million) will also be rehabilitated.

Council has budgeted R5,7 million to upgrade sports facilities in the district. It was not specified towards which projects the money will go. Community halls in Waterval (R2 million), Ha-Mutsha (R4,5 million) and Dzanani (R2,75 million) are also on the planning board.

Unlike previous years, the budget speech omitted details of where the funds for the operating budget will come from. It was evident that the non-payment for services is still a serious problem and the mayor made reference to this when she announced that a debt collector will have to be appointed to ensure that outstanding revenues are collected. “To carry out all these projects and services, we shall need financial resources. Therefore, the Budget and Treasury Department will continue to ensure that we recover monies owed to the Council,” she said.