Mayor's ‘pro poor’ claims and poor baboon management slammed at council meeting
The City of Cape Town council also welcomed the mayoral committee reshuffle announced during full house council at the Council Chamber on April 26. Pictured is mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis delivering his speech. l SUPPLIED
Cape Town – Opposition parties disagrees with the City of Cape Town's Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis' reiteration of the municipality being pro-poor and priding itself for tabling a biggest capital budget in the country.
Instead, it criticised the municipality for poor baboon management during the council meeting yesterday (Thursday).
The mayor repeatedly emphasised the City's interest in prioritising the poor population of the Metro, saying its R11 billion 2023/24 infrastructure budget was 35,2% larger than eThekwini, and 59,7% larger than the third biggest budget from Johannesburg.
"When tabling our budget last month, we did not yet have the perspective of all other metro budgets. These make for some stark comparisons, with the evidence, clearly showing that Cape Town is delivering the most for the poor in South Africa," he said.
"In this year, we have worked out that roughly 73% – or just over R8bn – of Cape Town’s R11bn capital budget goes towards critical infrastructure that benefits lower-income households, informal settlements, and poorer communities in our city.
"Cape Town’s foundation of good governance is enabling us to make unrivalled investments in the future, while also strengthening the safety net for the vulnerable," Hill-Lewis explained.
His address was a follow-up on the budget draft speech he delivered last month, stating plans to invest R69bn in service delivery expenditure.
However, oppositions said he used the term “pro-poor” to deceive citizens and create false hope in the minds of the vulnerable. They also opposed proposals of a multi-billion rand loan offered by a Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), a French development bank.
It offered the City a loan of up to 100 million euros (about R2 billion) over the next five years saying it would result in another rate inflation sucking it out from the ratepayers.
Mzubanzi Dambuza, of the EFF, said: "The mayor is doing what he does the best; giving a good presentation with no substance.
"Our people will continue to suffer despite all these promises because all we are going to see is minimal work done in the vulnerable communities, while a big part of the budget is diverted to the suburbs. And now you're talking about taking a loan which the City doesn't need. Who is going to pay for it?“
Hi;;-Lewis said: "We feel deeply the responsibility and weight of doing all we can – working harder, investing more, pushing for more powers – so that we can better improve these living conditions, and make this a more inclusive and more caring city."
Bongani Maqungwane said the fact that the mayor excluded winter preparations from the budget despite the evident poor drainage system and obvious floodings in some areas showed "how neglected the poor are under the DA-led governance."
However the mayor said most of the issues the City needed to spend the budget on were beyond their control and due to the failure of the national government.
Another big debate broke over the baboon management, with politicians saying government was mostly in favour of the species and doing very little to enforce and prevent the baboon-human interaction deemed as a risk to both, yet compromising the safety and rights of the ratepayers.
Grant Haskin, of the African Christian Democratic Party, stated that for 20 years the City had failed to regulate the baboon movements, which have now become a ticking time-bomb before the situation gets out of control.
And Paul Jacobson, of the VFP, told the City to work with animal welfare organisations to address the issue, as well as to improve its waste management so to minimise the attraction of baboons to the residential areas.
Grant Twigg, the mayoral committee member for urban waste management, said the City was extending the current contract, including rangers to assist with keeping baboons out of the urban areas. They also continue to adapt and plan for the new dispensation as envisioned by the draft Baboon Strategic Management plan.
"The call for comments on the intention to extend the current Urban Baboon Programme will be advertised on May 5. After the commenting period, the applicable supply chain management processes will be followed, inclusive of reports to the City’s Mayoral Committee and the Bid Adjudication Committee.
“We will announce the outcome of these processes once it has been concluded, safe to say that we are working hard to meet the deadline of June 30 to ensure there is a bridging period," said Andrews.