Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to ensure no cuts to municipal funding are proposed when he tables National Budget 3.0 this week, reports Cape town Etc .
According to the mayor, while billions may be needed to balance the budget, this should never be done at the cost of cutting municipal allocations or infrastructure funding, because these are essential for improving basic services and fixing infrastructure.
There is more than enough waste and excess that can be cut in national government to balance the budget , and we are absolutely opposed to any cuts being passed down to municipalities, or indeed any further cuts in infrastructure spending, said Hill-Lewis in a statement.
The national government cant bemoan the state of cities, and then continuously slash municipal infrastructure and service delivery allocations whenever they need to find money.
In its statement, the City added that over R107 million was slashed from grant funding to Cape Town as part of nationwide cuts in 2023/24. The metro maintains it is able to spend as much grant funding as national government can provide, having spent a minimum of 99 of all grant funding since 2020 to upgrade informal settlements and provide a measure of free housing to the poorest.