EXPLAINER | Why Ekurhuleni’s budget vote deadlock matters to residents

The City of Ekurhuleni is expected to attempt to pass its budget on Tuesday after failing to do so on four previous occasions in the current financial year.

The city is running out of time as the new financial year kicks in on July 1.

If councillors fail to approve the budget, the consequences could extend far beyond political disagreements and directly affect service delivery, municipal finances and residents.

The failure to get the budget passed during four council sittings has exposed deep divisions among political parties over proposed tariff increases, spending priorities and the city’s financial assumptions.

Municipalities are legally required to approve their budgets before the new financial year begins on July 1. Without an approved budget, the city cannot legally spend money on most functions because authorising expenditure without a budget would constitute irregular expenditure. This means non-essential spending could grind to a halt. New projects, maintenance programmes and some service delivery initiatives may be delayed until a budget is approved.

If the deadlock persists, provincial government intervention could follow, and the municipality could be placed under administration or the dissolution of the council and fresh elections recommended.

At the centre of the dispute is proposed tariff hikes that would affect households and businesses.

The draft budget proposes:

• Water tariffs be increased by 11%
• Sanitation charges be hiked by 8.35%
• Electricity tariffs be increased by 9%
• Refuse removal fees be increased by 3.4%

Opposition parties argue residents are already under financial pressure from rising living costs and cannot absorb further increases.

The DA says the budget places an unfair burden on residents while failing to address inefficiencies within the municipality.

ActionSA has also refused to support the budget unless the city commits to insourcing workers and limiting tariff increases to regulated adjustments such as the electricity increase approved by the energy regulator.

Meanwhile, the Freedom Front Plus party argues the budget is based on overly optimistic financial assumptions, including a 90% revenue collection rate, a projected R1.5bn surplus, and plans to secure R500m in bridging finance.

Why should residents care?

For ordinary residents, the dispute is about far more than politics. If the budget is passed in its current form, households could face significantly higher monthly municipal bills from July. If it is not passed, service delivery programmes and municipal operations could face uncertainty and potentially be affected.

A council sitting is scheduled for Tuesday.