eThekwini Municipality’s R2.7 billion budget adjustment prioritises water, sanitation, and housing

The eThekwini Municipality’s R2.7 billion budget adjustment focused on key allocations for housing, sanitation, and the challenges of water supply. There was mixed reaction to theeThekwini MunicipalityR2.7 billion adjustment budget tabled at the eThekwini Council on Thursday. The departments set to benefit from the adjustments were housing (R144 million) and sanitation (R634 million).

A total of R409 million is included in this budget which is a grant from the Metro Trading Services Reform Programme. Mdu Nkosi, the chairperson of the municipality’s Trading Services Committee stated that a large part of this funding will be going to the Water and Sanitation Directorate and will focus on dealing, in the main, with the challenge of non-revenue water. Nkosi explained that the municipality does not have enough raw water resources to meet its water demand. He said that thedelayed developmentof bulk water infrastructure, namely Upper Umkhomazi Dam, means the city will be required to reduce water demand and also exploit alternative water sources to align its growing demand to the available resources in the short term.