The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) today met with the Johannesburg Metro Council’s Mayor, Dada Morero, and the Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, Margaret Arnolds, to propose several changes to the Metro’s draft budget for the 2025/26 financial year.
The party made it clear that it will not support the draft budget in its current form.
The draft budget is open for public participation and the party encourages residents to make submissions.
The Freedom Front Plus believes that the proposed tariff increases are excessive and unaffordable for residents.
The Freedom Front Plus proposed that property rates should not be increased, while the tariff hikes for sanitation and refuse removal should be limited to 4,6%.
The 12,7% hike granted to Eskom by Nersa and the 13,9% increase in Rand Water’s water tariff will, unfortunately, still impact consumers as the Metro has no control over these.
The party also proposed that capital expenditure on water infrastructure be increased from R1,291 billion to R1,819 billion, and on power infrastructure from R1,532 billion to R1,680 billion.
This is a good starting point to stop the decay of infrastructure and reduce water wastage, in particular.
Currently, the budget provides for a decrease in capital expenditure – from R7,7 billion to R7,2 billion – while infrastructure is falling apart.
So, the party proposed that total capital expenditure should be increased from R7,7 billion to R8,09 billion.
As it stands, the loan amount to fund capital projects is increased from R2,7 billion to just over R3 billion in the current draft budget. The Metro simply cannot afford the increased debt burden.
The Freedom Front Plus’s proposal is to limit the loan amount to R2,5 billion, which is R200 million less than in the 2024/25 financial year.
All these proposals can be funded through cost-saving measures, without residents having to shell out more. These proposed changes offer hope, will promote job creation and will find favour with all residents.
By the end of their meeting, the Mayor undertook to consider the Freedom Front Plus’s proposals and soon convene a second meeting to further discuss the proposed adjustments.
The Freedom Front Plus is committed to stopping the decay of Johannesburg and making the city a better place for all.
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