Chamber Comments On Kwadukuza Medium Term Budget

iLembe Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism comments on KwaDukuza Local Municipality draft Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework budget.

The iLembe Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (ICCIT) has made detailed recommendations to the KwaDukuza Local Municipality on its draft 2023/24 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework budget.

The draft MTREF budget was tabled by the KwaDukuza Local Municipality in March 2023 and published for public comment.

The iLembe Chamber has responded to the draft budget on behalf of the organised business sector and investors within the wider iLembe district.

The Chamber recommendations to the KwaDukuza Local Municipality include:

• Improving operating surpluses and ensuring that all revenue is billed and the projected operating expenditure is not exceeded, creating capital reserves to fund the capital budget from own revenue.

• Reducing the budget for electricity revenue due to affordability constraints and consumers using alternative energy.

• Implementing efficiency measures to reduce operational costs to reduce the burden on the ratepayers for refuse.

• Reviewing the property register to recover revenue due from an additional 5 000 properties.

• Releasing uncommitted cash reserves to fund part of the budget and reduce the burden on the consumers and ratepayers.

• Maintaining the high collection rate by implementing the planned revenue enhancement measures and the debt collection and credit control policies.

• Reviewing operational expenditure to conform to the zero-budgeting principle and reducing staff costs.

• Generating operating surpluses and collecting revenue to maintain funding of the capital expenditure from own revenue.

• Ensuring the maintenance of existing infrastructure.

• Reducing the electricity connection costs while implementing measures to reduce the electricity distribution losses.

• Avoiding increases in refuse charges for 2023/24 and implementing minimal increases for the outer years.

• Adopting a policy on the development contributions that ring-fences the financial contributions to be directed to specific pre-identified and complementary development unlocking projects.

• Taking advantage of the positive financial position and exploring alternative funding mechanisms for strategic infrastructure development including PPPs, alternative forms of borrowing and introducing incentives that attract development.

The Chamber’s submission reflected on the rapid appreciation in property values, which had the unintended consequence of raising the rates payable.

It proposed that the municipality quantify the related rates revenue increases that related to property value increases and consider using that as a buffer to curtail the proposed 7% increase in property rate.

The Chamber also identified several infrastructure projects which required specific attention in the budget. These included improving the electrical system and the Dukuza sub-station, upgrading the Ballito Taxi Rank and building the proposed underpass for pedestrian traffic.

Other recommendations included providing for the revitalisation of the Umhlali and Shakaskraal CBDs.

The CEO of the iLembe Chamber, Cobus Oelefse, said the Chamber anticipated that its comprehensive input would receive consideration and enrich the process and quality of the final budget to be approved by the Council.

“The next step is to get our submission to the Department of Cooperative Governance and the Provincial and National Treasury to ensure that the process of participative government at local level is honoured,” said Oelefse.