KAROO NEWS - The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (SBDM) tabled a R164,2-million operating budget for the 2020/2021 financial year on 5 June. An extra R5,1-million capital budget was tabled.
People have 21 days to comment on the proposed budget.
The Executive Mayor of SBDM, Eunice Kekana, delivered the budget speech for the next municipal financial year starting, on 1 July until 30 June 2021, during the council meeting. This is the third review of the municipality's five year integrated development plan.
In the virtual meeting, Kekana addressed the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the municipality and its communities. "We will strive for economic recovery, job creation and sustainability to ensure that our district manages to come to terms with new normality as soon as possible and that the district mitigates the impact of Covid-19 on our key sectors such as tourism, local economic development and agriculture," said Kekana.
The mayor reiterated the municipality's commitment to the district development model, which calls for all spheres of government to work together as one to ensure cohesion in service delivery. The municipality also remains committed to developing its local municipalities through providing the necessary support and assistance.
An amount of R28,4-million has been earmarked for fire services. of which R15-million is allocated for the fire contribution and fire equipment to local municipalities. The budget also includes the construction of the Paterson Integrated Emergency Centre (R7,5-million), which is a multi-year project, as well as training for firefighters (R1-million).
R11,8-million has been set aside for environmental health services.
Local economic development initiatives have been budgeted at an amount of R3,1-million. These initiatives include support to small, medium and micro enterprises, agricultural support, training in renewable energy, investment promotion and an economic development summit.
An amount of R1,1-million has been allocated to planning and economic development to assist local municipalities and stakeholders to cope with the effect of the Covid pandemic.
An amount of R5-million has been allocated for the district development agency.
A total of R1,7-million is budgeted across all SBDM departments to address Covid-19 issues.
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