City of Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) of Finance, Jolidee Matango, is expected to table his budget speech on Tuesday.
Matango is expected to announce the city’s increased rates and services.
Last year the city announced a R69 billion budget. The bulk of the city’s revenue is raised through water and electricity tariffs.
Matango says the city has consulted broadly to ensure that the new tariff increases are fair.
“We are quite happy that we have consulted widely, but also we are confident that our IDP (Integrated Development Plan) and the budget, including the tariffs that we levied, will respond to the needs and the outcry that has been there. We could be populist and say people have an outcry so don’t increase the rates, but what will the effect of not increasing the rates be? We are confident that the increases will be acceptable to the public. We are trying to strike a balance between affordability and the fact that we have to deliver the service,” says Matango.
