ActionSA throws weight behind Tshwane adjustment budget

This after days of impasse sparked by the party's concerns about its submissions not being reflected in the budget brought before the council last week.

The exclusion of certain service delivery priorities saw ActionSA withhold its vote on Monday.

The party is a signatory to a multi-party coalition in the metro, a partnership borne from the recent local government elections.

ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont says the coalition conceded to its demands at the last minute, paving the way for the adoption of the budget.

"It's a good think that it happened but it's very sad that it had to come to this," said Beaumont.

Among ActionSA's demands was the commitment to tackle the Hammanskraal water crisis and to the address the housing needs of the Mamelodi flood victims.

The coalition partners have made a written commitment to factor in a further R20 million in funding for the provision of basic services to informal settlements to provide water and sanitation.

"There were various other line items that pertain to rudimentary services to informal settlements, as well as relocation of informal settlement, the informal traders and other key areas of intervention that ActionSA the original budget did not accommodate," Beaumont added.

He admitted the back-and-forth may have put some strain on the partnership.

"There's no question it put it under strain but it's also the nature of politics.

"But we have to ask ourselves 'are we here to make friends or are we here to serve the residents?' And ActionSA's position is that we are here to serve the residents. And to the extent that we need to have a robust relationship with our coalition partners, we will do exactly that so that the final product is something that serves the residents as intended."

The budget allocations will kick in at the start of the financial year in July. 

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