Issued by Cllr Bradwyn Marnce - DA Harry Gwala District PR Councillor

Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Harry Gwala District Municipality officially recorded its absolute opposition against the adoption of the 2026/2027 Tabled Final Budget and its associated policy suite. Operating as a lone voice for fiscal discipline and structural accountability, the DA successfully invoked Rule 31 of the Standing Rules and Orders to force the individual recording of a formal dissenting vote by name into the official council minutes.
The DA flatly rejects the ruling party’s desperate defence of its appalling 1.1% allocation for repairs and maintenance under the claim that the municipality “has no money”. The municipality handles a massive R1.049 billion parent budget (R1.076 billion consolidated), yet it completely fails to meet infrastructure funding thresholds while communities suffer from sewage in the streets and water interruptions that last for weeks.
The DA rejected the budget based on the following critical points:
Predatory and Unfair Borehole Taxes: The Credit Control Policy slaps a flat tax of R162.00 per month on domestic boreholes and R462.00 on businesses. It is unconscionable to penalize self-reliant citizens for drilling their own water while the municipality continuously fails to supply them.
Violation of Maintenance Policies: Section 6.2.2 of the municipality’s own Final Budget Policy explicitly mandates that the repairs and maintenance budget ‘shall be equal to at least 7% of PPE’. Tabling a budget at a miserable 1.1% actively violates local financial laws.
Unfair Tariff Hikes to Subsidize Water Losses: Consumers are expected to absorb a 10% water tariff increase even though engineering data shows water distribution losses have actively worsened to a staggering 38%.
Personnel and Consultant Waste: Employee costs devour a massive R331.9 million (38% of the operational budget) while 181 critical positions sit completely vacant and unfilled. Meanwhile, costly financial consultants are frequently used to perform routine internal tasks with no skills transfer.
Distorted Financial Reporting: The budget document openly acknowledges that the Tabled Revenue figure is inflated and actively overstated by R25 million due to internal system glitches.
The DA refuses to endorse dry taps, administrative waste, and flagrant policy violations. We offer a clear, workable alternative to rescue frontline service delivery:
Activate Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Urgently look into and formalise PPPs with private engineering and technology firms to repair bulk water systems, upgrade wastewater plants, and introduce technical capacity.
Digitise the Revenue Control and Billing Value Chain: Completely digitise the billing management architecture to ensure absolute billing accuracy and stop back-office administrative errors.
Optimise Prepaid Meter Infrastructure: Ensure prepaid and smart meter infrastructure is fully functional and audited to systematically secure the local revenue base.
Enforce Immediate Active Water Leak Audits: Establish dedicated municipal teams to locate, map, and repair physical leaks to salvage millions of Rands in liquid revenue.
Establish Independent Performance and SCM Project Dashboards: Establish transparent, digitized project trackers to eliminate corruption, and immediately grey list and penalize non-performing contractors.
Aggressively Restructure and Scale Down the Consultant Footprint: Hand routine administrative tasks back to internal staff in line with the Cost Containment Policy and redirect clawed-back funds to essential tools and plumbing spares.
Deploy Decentralized Emergency Engineering Maintenance Depots: Establish localized service depots staffed with professional plumbers and engineers equipped to resolve pipe bursts and pump failures within 24 hours.
Enforce Strict Consequence Management and Fill Critical Vacancies: Prioritize filling critical technical engineering vacancies and subject any municipal official who fails to meet clear performance standards to immediate disciplinary action.
The people of Harry Gwala deserve leadership that leads with discipline, integrity, and respect for every rand collected from ratepayers.