The City of Ekurhuleni has returned R9 542 843 in grant money after failing to spend it. Ekurhuleni is failing its residents as this grant money is meant to improve their quality of life by implementing infrastructure projects, library resources, equipment, and maintenance. This is putting service delivery at risk due to incompetence, poor planning, and mismanagement of funds.
This information was revealed in a reply to a Democratic Alliance (DA) question in the Gauteng Legislature by the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo.
The five grants that were affected are:
• Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) – R1 308 918,50
• Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG)-R 777 476,88
• HIV/AIDS Grant-R 525 944,82
• Libraries Plan – R820 893,95
• Human Settlements Development Plan (HSDG)-R6 109 609,52
See the full reply here.
It is unacceptable that Ekurhuleni fails to spend on its allocated grant while struggling to deliver services to its residents. The implementation of infrastructure projects that promote equitable, integrated, productive, inclusive, and sustainable urban development was not done. Investment targeted to attract and sustain third-party capital investments aimed at spatial transformation, improving the quality of life and access to opportunities for residents of townships and rural towns was impacted due to failure to spend the grant. In addition, HIV/AIDS programmes were also affected putting lives at risk. The failure to use the grants for libraries means residents are denied access to a critical resource of learning and acquiring skills.
It is high time that MEC Mamabolo intervenes by engaging all municipalities on the importance of spending allocated grants by implementing stringent measures to curb under expenditure.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would implement measures to ensure that municipalities spend all the allocated grants. Where large sums of money are not spent, municipalities should account, and interventions will be implemented.