The MMC for finance in the City of Ekurhuleni‚ Nkosindiphile Xhakaza‚ tabled his maiden budget before council on Thursday.
Xhakaza presented a budget totalling R36.6-billion for 2017/18. Of this amount‚ R26.2-billion comes from the city’s generated revenue‚ R5.4-billion from operating grants and R5-billion from assessment rates.
Capital budget for the financial year stands at R6.4-billion — up by 23% from the previous financial year.
Economic development was allocated R664-million‚ of which R619-million is for bulk infrastructure rollout to enable economic development initiatives.
Among the projects targeted are R45-million for revitalisation of four traditional Industrial Parks in Wadeville and Labore; implementation of the Gibela Industrial Park; and implementation of the Tambo Springs Inland Port.
Tourism received a boost of R38-million‚ of which R35-million will go to the Khumalo Street Tourism Hub and R3 million will be channelled to the development of the Ekurhuleni Liberation Route.
About R4-million was allocated to the development of 120 urban farmers and a further R15-million for investment in farm infrastructure.
Springs Fresh Produce Market and Agriculture will be recapitalised at a cost of
R110-million over the next three years
The City is allocating R12-billion of procurement opportunities to local entrepreneurs‚ service providers and enterprises over three years.
About R269-million of the capital expenditure is allocated to township economies over the next three years.
A total of R2.6-billion over the MTREF has been set aside for public transport system‚ starting with R83-million in 2017/18.
An amount of R1.9-billion is allocated for the second phase of the BRT project (Harambee)‚ which links Kempton Park and Katlehong.
The rest of the transport budget will go to the following projects:
- R116-million for the Germiston Station Intermodal Transport Facility‚ taxi ranks and other public transport facilities;
- R427 million to be spent on licensing centres in‚ among other areas‚ Tembisa‚ Vosloorus‚ Boksburg‚ Edenvale‚ Germiston and Bedfordview;
- R69-million is allocated to replace aging municipal buses; and
- R100-million is earmarked for other transport related facilities.