Date: 2025-05-27 13:03:59
Draft 2025-26 medium term revenue and expenditure framework (MTREF) tabled for consideration
ETHEKWINI NEWSFLASH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
26 MAY 2025
FULL COUNCIL DECISIONS
DRAFT 2025/26 MEDIUM TERM REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK (MTREF) TABLED FOR CONSIDERATION
EThekwini Municipality’s Council tabled the draft 2025/26 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (MTREF) for consideration at a special meeting held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre today, 26 May 2025. The budget prioritises infrastructure rehabilitation to accelerate service delivery, as well as economic development.
The MTREF will be tabled for approval on Thursday, 29 May 2025.
The MTREF comprises a total budget of R70.9 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. This includes a R63.6 billion operating budget and a R7.3 billion capital budget.
EThekwini Mayor, Councillor Cyril Xaba, reaffirmed the City’s focus on accelerating service, improving resilient infrastructure, and ensuring economic growth that leaves no one behind.
The Municipality has revised several proposed tariff increases, following an extensive public participation process held from 22 April to 17 May.
For the 2025/26 MTREF, the Municipality will allocate R588 million to build bulk infrastructure for various catalytic projects.
This budget is expected to attract billions of rands of investment in development projects that will catapult the City into a new era of prosperity.
“Last year, when I assumed office, we indicated that our priorities will include, among others, provision of uninterrupted water supply, improving customer care, and building an economically sustainable City. The budget emphasises turnaround strategies for trading services to enhance efficiency and improve the quality of life of residents,” said Mayor Xaba.
“We have noted the water-related issues that were raised during the budget hearings, which include water meters being out of stock, water outages, water leaks, ageing infrastructure, as well as flood damages, that have not yet been repaired. Despite these challenges, the Municipality is making significant strides in transforming our water and sanitation services,” he said.
To provide a reliable and efficient water supply, the total operating budget for water is R11.3 billion, which includes R5.3 billion for bulk water purchases and R1.9 billion for free basic water. The capital budget for this service in 2025/26 is R1.15 billion, which will focus on the Water Loss Intervention Programme and the replacement of water pipes.
To continuously supply residents with electricity, the Municipality will allocate an operating budget of R23.6 billion, of which R18.7 billion (or over 80 percent of the budget) for bulk purchases from Eskom. An amount of R578 million will be spent on free basic electricity. The capital budget for electricity is R859 million.
The focus of the 2025/26 electricity budget is on network refurbishment to replace ageing infrastructure and upgrading substations for better load capacity. This includes planned maintenance, commissioning of 17 new substations, and the upgrade of a further 30 substations.
To ensure seamless provision of waste management services, the Municipality has set aside an operating budget of R1.9 billion, which includes R454 million for community-based contractors and R85 million for refuse bags. The capital budget for this service is R375.5 million, which will be spent on transport assets and landfill sites.
Mayor Xaba said the City will also be attending to the housing backlog of over 474 000 households, which is growing due to rural-urban migration. This also includes efforts to address approximately 600 informal settlements with 314 000 households.
Other priorities of the budget include revenue enhancement programmes, provision of safe, reliable and integrated public transport, and the expansion of new road networks in rural and township communities. Another priority is the Durban Climate Action Plan, which includes several green projects, youth empowerment programmes, safety and security programmes, the Inner City Regeneration, as well as the rehabilitation of sports and arts and culture facilities.
SATELLITE DRIVERS LICENSE RENEWAL OFFICE AND A SATELLITE OFFICE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTERING AUTHORITY SERVICES AT THE METRO POLICE HEADQUARTERS
To address the backlogs being experienced at existing license renewal offices, Council approved
the establishment of a satellite office at the Metro Police Headquarters at 16 Archie Gumede Road. This will be for the renewal of driver’s licenses and a vehicle registration authority service.
Other satellite offices will be opened at the Chatsworth and KwaMashu Police Stations in the future. The approval mandates the eThekwini City Manager to enter into a service level agreement with the Department of Transport to incorporate the new satellite offices.
The license renewal will generate revenue for the Municipality in the estimated amount of R1 million per annum. This is based on the average of 400 applications per month being processed at a cost of R250.
Additional income will also be generated in the event of temporary driver's licenses and
professional driving permits being requested.
With regards to staff, resources will be sourced internally and supplemented with
graduate employment, thus contributing to experiential learning, while also benefitting from the skills supplied by graduates.
SUNDRY GRANT-IN-AID 2025/26 ADVERTISEMENT
A call for applications for the City’s Sundry Grant-in-Aid for the 2025/26 financial year will be open from 1 June 2025 and close on 31 July 2025 at 12pm midday. This follows Council approval granting authority for the Head of Community Participation and Action Support to commence with the adverts calling for the Sundry Grant-in-Aid application for the 2025/26 financial year.
The Grant-In-Aid Programme provides grant support to civil society organisations to enable them to undertake actions to improve the standard of living in communities. It seeks to implement the vision of eThekwini Municipality and overcome the development challenges identified in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) by directing key resources necessary to meet basic needs and the alleviation of poverty.
INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING APPROVED FOR SIBAYA DEVELOPMENT PHASE 1
EThekwini Municipality will contribute R7.8 million towards phase 1 for road infrastructure upgrades that are required to unlock the next stage of the Sibiya Coastal Precinct development, subject to cost recovery from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. This funding will support the upgrade of critical slip lanes on the M27 and M4 routes.
The developer has committed to funding R152 million, equivalent to 95.1 percent of the total cost.
The Sibaya Coastal Precinct is an ambitious mixed-use development that is set to attract R11.3 billion in investment over three years, and R23 billion over eight years. This development includes residential, commercial, retail, and hospitality components. The Municipality also anticipates significant rates revenue, expected to increase from R219 million in 2025 to R770 million annually by 2032. A Memorandum of Agreement between the City and the developer will formalise the terms.
BUDGET REPRIORITISATION FOR HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMMES AND HUMAN SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS 2024/2025 FINANCIAL YEAR
To ensure that full spending of the allocated Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) budget is achieved before the end of June 2025, Council approved the reprioritisation of the approved Human Settlements 2024/25 capital budget to the amount of R23 million.
Approval also includes reprioritisation of funds in the amount of R13 million from the capital budget for the 2024/25 financial year for housing and infrastructure.
Council was advised that the amount required will be taken from projects which are still under Supply Chain Management processes to be utilised on projects that are on the ground in order to improve service delivery. The reprioritisation of funds excludes the Kenney Road-Barton Place project.
The proposed reprioritisation is in line with the HSDG, Urban Settlements Development Grant, and Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant.
ENDS
Issued by eThekwini Municipality’s Communications Unit
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