The executive mayor, Peter Teixeira, said this in a statement while explaining how the municipality will make use of the biggest budget they have ever had. The 24% that is spent on salaries is substantially lower than the 40% benchmarked threshold proposed by National Treasury. “This demonstrates our commitment to allocating the majority of our funds towards important areas such as service delivery and infrastructure maintenance,” says Teixeira.

The budget in question is worth R1.8 billion. “Every cent in the R1.8 billion budget that was approved will be used to better the lives of our residents. The budget was assessed by the Provincial Treasury and we got a stamp of approval finding our budget to be credible, relevant, and fully funded.” 

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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.”

Midvaal executive mayor, Peter Teixeira, before his keynote address with a Musical Performance by the Oprah Winfrey Academy For Girls. Photo: Facebook 

The municipality has allocated R7.7 million towards ensuring the safety of the Midvaal community. “Our plans include expanding the installation of safety cameras to cover the western part of our municipality. Furthermore, we are in the process of establishing our first-ever law enforcement unit and we are procuring two high-performance vehicles. The vehicles will be used to patrol our areas around the clock and bolster our security measures,” said Teixeira.

During his address, he also shone a light upon the CCTVs they have installed around the municipality. “Through the CCTV monitoring, 67 stolen vehicles were recovered and 79 suspects were arrested. The SAPS members visited the control room 83 times to collect CCTV footage as evidence. Additional cameras were installed at the Sicelo Sports Grounds, the Power station, Savanah City, Lakeside, and Aloeridge Walkerville. 

The CCTV monitoring received 7 842 positive alerts on the number plate recognition system during this period with an average of 700 per month.”

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