Latest news with #TholiBiyela
The Herald
23-07-2025
- The Herald
Acting electricity boss turns to police after death threats
News Fake WhatsApp campaign has damaged my professional reputation, says Biyela Premium By Andisa Bonani - 23 July 2025 After receiving death threats, Nelson Mandela Bay's acting electricity boss, Tholi Biyela, has turned to the police, fearing for his life. Messages allegedly authored by Biyela, containing threats against city officials, have been widely circulated on social media platforms, including WhatsApp...
Daily Maverick
27-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Nelson Mandela Bay budget breakdown: Rising costs, declining services and the looming spectre of failure
The budget recently approved by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal council is not a budget for the people. It essentially asks the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay to pay more and receive less of everything. The R3.4-billion arrear debt proves that the people no longer see value in municipal services and are simply not paying. Recently, almost half of the city went without water for three days. Now the municipality has approved a 5% increase for water, sanitation, sewage, and property rates, as well as a 5.5% increase in refuse charges. If that's not enough to destroy the personal finances of ratepayers, a 12.8% increase in electricity is on the cards. The latter can be attributed to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) tariff application that I would say was severely botched by the acting Executive Director of Energy and Electricity, Tholi Biyela. The same official is being considered, in the political corridors of the municipality, to become the next permanent executive director of energy and electricity. Go figure. Of the R21.61-billion budget, the municipality has allocated a measly R2.15-billion for capital expenditure and a whopping R19.46-billion for operational expenditure. Capital projects are crucial for development as they drive economic growth, improve infrastructure, and enhance living standards. This municipality must never be mistaken for a developmental state. The salary and wage bill is the second-highest cost driver. Are we getting the bang we deserve for this buck, or are these just glorified welfare transfers? The municipality's salary and wage bill continues to rise year on year, yet the productivity and efficiency of the municipality keep declining year on year. Am I the only one who sees something wrong here? Should we reconcile with the fact that R5.9-billion cannot accommodate competent municipal officials who can submit a grant funding application on time? Yes, the City failed to apply for the USDG (urban settlement development grant) performance-based incentive grant component for trading services on time. On the subject of trading services, electricity bulk purchases are R7.2-billion while only budgeting to raise R6.4-billion in service charges revenue. By that calculation alone, the municipality is planning for failure. However, when you factor in all other operational costs you soon realise that this budget gives the electricity and energy department the right to lose R1.8-billion of ratepayers' money. The picture gets even worse when you consider total departmental expenditure. In fact, all trading services are operating on a significant deficit when considering total departmental expenditure. Infamous resolution The safety and security department is still suffering from the infamous 2018 council resolution to insource 672 private security guards. The department has budgeted to pay R1.1-billion, R1,2-billion, and R1,3-billion in security guard's salaries in 2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28 respectively. All while public infrastructure and assets continue to be vandalised at an alarming rate. We ought to hold those politicians who sponsored the item and those who supported it personally responsible for the losses occasioned by the resolution. The ward allocation is equitable, as it should be. Those wards that have the least in terms of services must get the most in terms of budget, but a lot more needs to be done in terms of actually spending that allocation. Far too often we have seen large sums of grant funding returned to the Treasury due to poor spending. The municipal budget is the financial plan that outlines how a municipality will collect and spend money to deliver services to residents. It sets priorities for local government, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently to maintain infrastructure, provide basic services, and promote development. The municipality has failed residents many times before, but this year we have reached a new low. For the first time, as far back as I can remember, the City has approved a deficit budget. For the first time, as far back as I can remember, the municipality is now planning to fail us. DM
