While addressing invitees at his State of the Municipality Address (SOMA), he started by thanking the residents for always paying their rates and taxes because it is nearly impossible to run a municipality if those are not paid. 

He said although they have received a clean audit for the ninth consecutive time, the clean audit means nothing if residents can’t reap the benefits of it. “If the residents of Midvaal cannot see, breathe, feel, or touch the clean audit we talk about, then it doesn’t mean anything to me. If residents do not have access to quality water, uninterrupted electricity, or pothole-free roads, then the clean audit doesn’t matter.”

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Invitees at the Midvaal State of the Municipality Address. 

While explaining what the state of the Midvaal looks like, he said they have cash reserves. “Mr Speaker, through effective management, I am happy to report that we have cash reserves to cover five months. What does this mean? It means even if every single resident would stop paying rates and taxes, the municipality would still run smoothly.”

It is, however, understood that the Gauteng Provincial Treasury did raise concerns about the Midvaal’s tariffs that are not cost-reflective and that they are not able to recoup all costs on their trading services such as refuse removal, water, and sanitation. 

“However, Midvaal – being a compassionate institution that is constantly working to shield its residents against the harsh economic climate – have kept our rates and taxes significantly low,” explained Teixeira. 

Outlining the increases, he said the average property increases will be 6.75%, water is 9.2%, refuse 7%, and wastewater 6.75%.

Midvaal Executive Mayor, Peter Teixeira, getting ready for his keynote address.

“Our country faces significant risks due to the continuous interruptions in power supply, rising inflation, and an increase in global interest rates. All these challenges have negatively affected our residents, and therefore the municipality’s revenue collection rate,” he states. 

Last year, Midvaal could easily turn out a collection rate of 97% a month, and a year-to-year rate of 95% but this would be at a significant cost to households. The fluctuating collection rate that they have been seeing will require constant monitoring to ensure that the assets of the council are well-maintained to avoid service delivery interruptions.

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