Disappointment as few comment on draft budget

THE City of Cape Town has received an underwhelming number of participants on its proposed budget for the 2021/22 financial year.

The municipality announced it received less than 2 000 comments from the public, a disappointing turnout given the population it serves.

The City concluded its public participation process on the draft budget two weeks ago, and the budget will be tabled later this month. The City says engagements took place with more than 230 ward-based community representatives through face-to-face and digital meetings.

Lobby group STOP CoCT believes the low turnout was due to people losing trust in the municipal government.

“Some doubt the CoCT figures, including me,” said STOP CoCT founder Mike Heyns. “Some are tired of complaining and nothing gets done. Some believe their vote will suffice. It is indeed sad if the figure of 2000 is true. The question is though, they refer to official comments. We need to understand what they mean by ‘official’. Not many people on the ground have access to the platforms available.”

Peter Williamson said the silence by residents on such matters should worry the municipality.

“People have been battered by both CoCT and Covid-19. They don’t trust any authority or so-called public participation, as the authorities are notorious for ignoring the voice of the people who pay their salaries. The silence is grounds for fear, as anger is creeping in across the board.”

The City’s Mayco member for Finance, Ian Neilson, said all formally submitted comments received were being considered.

“The final budget will be tabled to council for approval later this month. This follows extensive communication and engagement on the budget tabled.”

He admitted Covid-19 had had an impact on public participation, but said they were pleased with the response. “Although Covid-19 again had an impact on the public participation process, the City is pleased with the good response and thanks all community representatives, councillors and residents for taking part.”

The proposed budget includes R3.4billion available to help qualifying residents with rates and services relief, R8.4bn to help boost the local economy, and savings realised of approximately R460million in staffing and contracting services.

Political science professor at Stellenbosch University Amanda Gouws said only a few people understood budgets. “Unless service delivery is directly related to the budget so that people can understand how the budget will affect them, they are not that interested. But if we make it easy for people to comment, more people will do so,” Gouws said.