Tshwane Budget: From Deficit to Delivery

GOOD Speech by Sarah Mabotsa, GOOD City of Tshwane Councillor and MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning:

This speech was delivered by GOOD Tshwane Councillor and MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning, Sarah Mabotsa, during today’s Budget Debat e.

The GOOD party is proud to be able to support the 2025/26 budget for the City of Tshwane.

• Since taking office in October last year, our multi-party coalition government prioritised
• financial stability,
• economic revitalisation and infrastructure development,
• equitable service delivery,
• by-law enforcement, and
• community engagement.

Saying these things is easy, but it is in the budget where you can see the truth of a government’s intention.

Our budget for the 2025/26 year very clearly demonstrates our government’s commitment to the priorities which we promised the residents of Tshwane we would address.

• With regards to financial stability:
• Last year at this time, we had a R2,8 billion deficit. Today we are in the black.
• We have paid off more than R1,2 billion of our historic debt to Eskom.
• International financial agencies are looking more positively at the City of Tshwane, and
• The AGSA is sounding increasingly pleased with Tshwane’s more responsible approach to financial management.

These achievements are the evidence that the recovery of the City of Tshwane is underway.

Thank you to each and every Tshwane resident who has paid their bills or applied to have a prepaid electricity meter installed in their home.

On behalf of the GOOD party, it is a huge honour to be supporting the first fully funded budget in years. This is the first time for almost 5 years that the City administration is not being forced to spend more money than it has.

With regards to prioritising law enforcement:
This budget makes allocation for the recruitment of two hundred new Tshwane Metro Police Officers. It has been ten years since the TMPD has given budget for the recruitment of new staff.

That is a decade of police officers retiring or leaving and no new people being hired to replace them.

Our multi-party government’s commitment to upholding the law means supporting the TMPD with enough resources and people to actually be able to do their job.

With regards to economic revitalisation and infrastructure development:
As most people know, the Council has adopted a comprehensive Economic Revitalisation Strategy. A key objective of that strategy is investing in infrastructure that creates and enables growth for the city.

As the finances of the city of Tshwane recover, so we will be able to invest more and more money into critical infrastructure that creates jobs.

With regards to equitable service delivery:
There is a lot of discussion regarding the cleansing levies.

Let me remind Council that in Cape Town, the DA has proposed a R2.4 billion cleansing levy for that city. Those billions will be raised from every household, irrespective of whether they are already paying for refuse removal.

In Tshwane, we have taken a far more sensible approach to paying for the costs of cleaning our city. If you are already paying the City for refuse removal, you will not be charged any new levy.

Only those households that are not paying Tshwane for refuse removal will be charged.

We need all our residents to contribute to keeping the city clean. This is what equality looks like.

These cleaning costs are more than just your bin being emptied – they include the costs for the use of the City’s landfill sites or the cost of clearing up illegal dumping areas.

Thank you. Baie dankie. Kea leboga. Inkomu. Enkosi.

GOOD Manifesto on Civic Engagement: Encouraging active community participation in governance.

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