Budget allocations to the northern suburbs caused political mud-slinging last week.
The sparring was sparked in a city council meeting on Tuesday May 30 when ANC councillors voted against the City budget.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the mayor’s office accused the ANC of voting “against service delivery to the poor”.
It said the party had opposed “a wide range of service delivery projects to informal settlements and rebates to indigent residents – yet they claim to represent the poor”.
The projects included R27 million allocated for water and sanitation projects in Kraaifontein, Dunoon, Fisantekraal and Mfuleni.
However, ANC councillor Xolani Sotashe dismissed the statement, calling Ms De Lille a “chameleon”.
He said the ANC councillors had voted against the budget because it was “skewed” in favour of “white areas”, which continued to “get the lion’s share of the budget”.
The ANC then issued its own statement saying the DA’s “skewed allocation of resources” contradicted its claims of being pro-poor.
According to the statement, the budget allocated R27 million to 13 areas including Kraaifontein and Dunoon. That, it said, amounted to less than R1 million for each area over a year or about R80 000 a month. The ANC compared those figures to spend in more affluent areas such as Durbanville (R19 million), Blaauwberg North (R28 million), Edgemead and Bothasig (R21.6 million each) and Brackenfell (R8.5 million).
“We voted against this skewed allocation and prioritisation. The ANC will be going to the public protector to lay a complaint for investigation against Mayor De Lille for various transgressions she made,” the statement said.
The Northern News asked the mayor’s office what specifically in Kraaifontein the R27 million budgeted for informal settlements would be spent on.
Suzette Little, mayoral committee member for area north said: “With regard to the Kraaifontein infills, we are providing 30 toilets and two standpipes which are for individual erven in the Kraaifontein area where we have received requests from the ward councillor to install toilets and provide taps. These erven are as follows: Erf 12155 – corner of Ntongana and Maseleni Streets; Erf 12205 – Mayonga Crescent; and Erf 12436 – Coffee Crescent.
“In Dunoon we are providing 25 toilets and five standpipes; in Fisantekraal 25 toilets and five standpipes.”