RECORD BUDGET POINTS TO “A JOBURG WHERE

RECORD BUDGET POINTS TO “A JOBURG WHERE TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER THAN TODAY”

26 May 2015

A record Budget of more than R52-billion was presented to the City Council of Johannesburg today.

The size of the Budget and the extent of the allocations made to departments, entities and priority programmes reflect the health and sustainability of the City’s finances within a global and regional economic climate that remains constrained,” said Cllr Geoffrey Makhubo, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance.

The Budget consists of operating expenditure of R42.7-billion and almost R10-billion in capital expenditure. However, the City is appropriating a three year capital budget of R29-billion that will take it to the 2017/18 financial year.

“We are demonstrating to the people of the City that the Johannesburg of today is much better than it was yesterday,” said MMC Makhubo.

“In partnership with the people of Johannesburg we are ensuring that tomorrow will be even better than today.”

MMC Makhubo said the City has consistently delivered on the commitments it has made to residents and communities in Johannesburg. “We have kept our word. We have done what we said we would.”

The City’s financial health and future sustainability are reflected in a number of important indicators, he said:

It has generated surpluses over the past three years and reinvested this to fund major developments including road infrastructure, electrification and service delivery;
Johannesburg maintained high levels of liquidity with cash balances exceeding R5-billion at the end of the 2013 and 2014 financial years;
The City received unqualified audits in the past two consecutive years – with four of its entities achieving ‘clean audits’.

It is meeting its commitment to invest R100-billion in infrastructure over a ten year period. In the past year Johannesburg has spent over 95% of its approved capital budget on projects designed to improve the quality of life of its residents;

MMC Makhubo said Johannesburg’s capital budget is guided by an investment framework which seeks to eradicate service delivery backlogs, especially in poor and marginalised areas. Service delivery is improved through infrastructure and services that are planned, delivered and managed in an objective and structured manner.

“The Budget demonstrates the positive achievements of the past and continues to set a firm basis for optimism about the future of our great city,” he said. “The City is growing ever more confident in its ability to meet the needs of its communities while progressively rolling back the economic and social legacies of its apartheid past.”

It has generated surpluses over the past three years and reinvested this to fund major developments including road infrastructure, electrification and service delivery;

Johannesburg maintained high levels of liquidity with cash balances exceeding R5-billion at the end of the 2013 and 2014 financial years;

It is meeting its commitment to invest R100-billion in infrastructure over a ten year period. In the past year Johannesburg has spent over 95% of its approved capital budget on projects designed to improve the quality of life of its residents;