News24.com | City of Cape Town, Kubayi at loggerheads over funds meant for services in Khayelitsha

Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi.

• A war of words has broken out between the City of Cape Town and Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi.
• Kubayi says she was disappointed with the lack of progress in the provision of services such as water and sanitation in informal settlements in Khayelitsha.
• The City says it cannot lawfully use the R111 million allocation for programmes before June 2023.

The City of Cape Town and Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi have clashed over an R111 million transfer meant to speed up service delivery interventions.

On Monday, Kubayi said she was disappointed with the lack of progress in the delivery of services such as water and sanitation to people living in 16 informal settlements in Khayelitsha.

The minister met with leaders and representatives of the informal settlements last year.

However, commitments to improve living conditions, made by various spheres of government since then, have not yet been fulfilled, said residents.

"I cannot work with excuses while our people are suffering. I am frustrated, and today, I am announcing that if they can't do it, then the agency of human settlements, the Housing Development Agency, will now be responsible for the provision of these services.

"The provision of essential services is a basic human rights matter, and we cannot run away from it, nor should we try to short-change our people," said Kubayi.

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During the 2022/23 financial year, the human settlements department allocated close to R550 million, through the Informal Settlement Upgrading Partnership Programme, to help improve the living conditions of people in Cape Town's informal settlements.

Kubayi said:

The City has refuted the minister's assertions, saying it had already allocated funds for upgrades to 16 informal settlements in Khayelitsha which were formed during the Covid-19 lockdown periods.

The metro, responding in its own statement on Monday, described Kubayi's statement as "inaccurate and unhelpful".

"Every person working in state procurement in South Africa knows that grant funds must be spent in the financial year in which they are allocated, or they must be rolled over officially.

"All that is required is for the necessary National Treasury permission for the rollover of these funds to be spent in the new financial year beginning 1 July 2023," it said.

The City added it would be impossible to spend the R111 million received on 30 March in the remaining weeks of "our financial year ending in June 2023 due to the time required to meet planning and procurement regulations".

It said it could not lawfully use the R111 million allocation for programmes before June 2023, and it would not lawfully be able to use it in the next financial year without rollover permission.

"If National Treasury has not granted a rollover, then it would seem the minister is trying to publicly pressure the City into spending unlawfully.

"This kind of approach to public spending is why local government finances in the rest of South Africa are in such a mess. The City will resist these pressures and make sure that every rand we spend is done so lawfully."