eThekwini Municipality has presented its 2018/19 budget at The Durban City Hall yesterday 31 May 2018. The budget which according to Mayor Zandile Gumede balances economic and social expenditure is R45.8 billion made up of R38.7 billion operating budget and R7.1 capital budget.
Despite increasingly challenging circumstances, service delivery will continue to be sustained through this budget by reprioritising expenditure to ensure key objectives are achieved. Provisions in this medium term budget continue to support government’s commitment to broadening service delivery and expanding investment in infrastructure.
The first 6kl of water is free to household with property values under R250 000 and Durbanites using less than 150kwh of electricity per month will get the first 50kwh for free. For those in the eThekwini reticulated areas less than 150kwh per month, the first 65kwh will be free.
As it was to be expected, the city has increased property, electricity, water, refuse and sanitation rates.
Property Rates will increase by 6.9%, electricity will increase by 6.84% with the Eskom increase of 7.32%. Water for domestic use has increased by 15% while the increase for the business use is at 15.5%. Meanwhile the Umgeni Water board has increased it’s tariffs to the municipality by 13.7%. Refuse and Sanitation will increase by 9.9%.”
The Municipality has furthermore announced installation of smart metering for water and electricity.