Joburg DA believes metro not doing enough to fix decaying water & electricity infrastructure

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg believes the metro is not doing enough to fix its decaying water and electricity infrastructure.

Finance MMC Margaret Arnolds is preparing for her budget speech on Wednesday, where she will present the metro’s spending priorities for the next financial year.

While she is expected to make allocations for the improvement of city infrastructure, some opposition parties doubt the funds will be enough.

DA caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said the city would need to make bold decisions to address infrastructure backlogs.

"We were expecting that the public participation was just a ticking box exercise. We are not seeing anything different from what we received in the draft budget. The city is putting money on infrastructure but there’s not anything meaningful that will make a difference."

ActionSA chief whip, Lebo Modukanene, whose party is in alliance with the African National Congress (ANC), said that infrastructure required a more thoughtful and attentive approach.

"There is no running away from it. It would be highly irresponsible of them not to include the budget for our infrastructure backlogs but it remains to be seen how much is allocated for the infrastructure backlog. We expect some allocations."