A budget of R52.6 billion  for the 2015/16 year was announced by City of Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance‚ Geoffrey Makhubo, on Tuesday.

The budget focuses on capital expenditure‚ entrepreneurship development, the green economy, housing and youth employment.

Detailing the budget, Makhubo announced that the sustainable services cluster, which oversees and coordinates the bulk of the city’s service delivery obligations has been located R25.9 billion for the operating budget.

City Power

City Power is allocated an operating budget of R15.4 billion for 2015/16 and a multi-year capital budget of R4.6 billion.

Acknowledging the discomfort of load shedding and its impact on daily routine, Makhubo said it was important to be “vigilant in voluntarily managing demand in our homes and businesses in order to reduce the need to load shed for the common good”.

City Power will, among other things, use the money to roll out prepaid and smart meters that will not only protect the city’s revenue streams but will also mitigate the impact of load shedding through the load limiting capabilities of the smart meters.

It will also see the electrification of informal settlements. The city has set aside R200 million for the electrification of informal settlements in 2015/16 with a further R200 million set aside for 2016/17.

Health, Economic Development, Transport

The Health Department receives an operating budget of R743 million for 2015/16 and a three year capital budget of R315 million, with key projects funded to include primary health care, HIV and TB, women, maternal and reproductive health.

The operating budget for Economic Development Department amounts to R187 million in the 2015/16 financial year and R51 million for the three year capital budget.

The department is the main driver of economic development and transformation projects in the city and will use the budget to focus on projects including SMME and entrepreneurial development; trade promotion and development; the green economy technology hub; inner city renewal; the small business hub; and the construction of linear markets facility in Alexandra and Kopanong.

On transportation, the operating budget is R1.5 billion for the 2015/16 financial year and the three year capital budget allocation is R3.5 billion.

The budget will fund projects including Transit-Oriented Development Priority areas such as the Rea Vaya roll-out of Phase 1C from Parktown to Alexandra and eventually to Sandton.

In the past financial years the city has invested in completing initiatives aimed at improving streets, adding pedestrian and cyclist paths in various communities including Braamfontein, Brixton and Soweto.

These, according to Makhubo, will continue to be rolled out in other communities such as Orange Farm, Ivory Park, Auckland Park and Rosebank.

Click here to read Part 1.