According to the Freedom Front Plus councillor, Elizabeth Snyman-Van Deventer, the party is against the budget because of the increased service fees and high taxes, especially under these terrible circumstances. “Since their incorporation into the Metro in 2016, the residents of Dewetsdorp, Wepener and Vanstadensrus have had to cope with tariff increases of 403%. These residents are paying metro tarrifs, but do not have basic service delivery on a weekly basis. The party has called for innovative ideas as they believe that the same old recipe of tariff hikes cannot be followed under the current economic difficulties.

Mangaung DA Councillor, Hans Britz, said that their party is against Mangaung Metro’s budget because of constant underspending on capital budget, employee costs that have increased drastically in the term of the present council, the failure to collect the outstanding debt that has grown with an astonishing 104%. “The only way to save this metro is to replace the present council in October of this year.”

The provisional maintenance of infrastructure is insufficient and it causes serious service delivery problems according to both parties. Snyman-Van Deventer reiterated that the metro council should create a favourable environment so that the private sector will be able to create more jobs and invest more. However, one of the representatives of the Mangaung Concerned Community, Motlatsi Mokgatla, said that they are happy with the metro’s budget. He said that the Mangaung Council has agreed to engage with community members and listen to their inputs before the budget can be finalised.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi