Have Your Say In The Budget Process

What is a budget?

A budget is a financial plan. It summarises – in financial figures – the planned upcoming financial year by showing the costs (expenses) of these activities, as well as where the money (income) will come from to finance this.

The financial year of South African municipalities runs from 1 July to 30 June. Budgets are prepared by the municipality and must be approved by Council before the new financial year begins. This is after proper planning and consultation with ward committees and other stakeholders. Approval of the budget is one of the most important tasks for councillors, after consultation with ward committees and other stakeholders.

Ward committees and residents should carefully look at the proposed budget that affects their area. The City of Ekurhuleni opens the draft budget annually for residents and interested parties to comment on as part of the public participation process.

How is the budget drafted?  

The budget of a local government is a detailed plan of how it plans to spend funds in line with its objectives, needs and priorities. While local governments have discretionary planning and budgeting powers, their plans and budgets need to reflect priorities and objectives that are set out in national policies, plans and budgets. As a result, the local government planning and budget cycle must fit into the national planning and budgeting cycle.

The City works off, what can be called a blueprint, the Growth and Development Plan 2055 – which is the City’s long-term plan. This is broken up into shorter-term goals, the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) which covers five years and is further broken down into fiscal year planning called Service Delivery Budget Implementation Plans (SDBIP).

IDP

The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is a process where municipalities prepare a strategic development plan that covers five years. It includes the:

• planning,
• budgeting,
• resource allocation, and
• decision-making processes in the municipality.

It also includes a public participation process in which the public is consulted and asked to comment on the proposed plans of the City.

What are the CORE services of the municipality?

• Providing water and sanitation,
• Supplying electricity,
• Waste removal,
• Health services,
• Roads and stormwater,
• Real estate – such as grass cutting and parks maintenance, and
• Sport, recreation arts and culture.

*Note that these are not all the services that are carried out by the municipality.

What is MTREF?

The Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework, or the MTREF, looks at budgets for the various projects/services that the City will carry out in the next financial year – and over the next three years. In short, it means budgeting for planned projects over three years.

Capital and Operating Budgets

The City works with Capital as well as Operating budgets to fund the core services.

The Capital Budget is used to fund the service delivery needs of the community, such as:

• Construction and upgrading of roads, clinics, libraries,
• Network enhancement, and
• Electrification of houses, and the like.

On the other hand, the Operating Budget is used to fund the day-to-day activities of the municipality such as:

• Bulk purchases of electricity and water,
• Repairs and maintenance of infrastructure,
• Grass cutting,
• Maintenance of parks and recreational facilities, and
• Metro policing, and the like.

Where does the budget come from?

The main sources of capital budget financing are:

• External loans  
• Internal loans
• Contributions from revenue
• Government grants –Municipalities may apply to the national government for grants for infrastructure development.
• Donations and public contributions
• Public/Private Partnerships

The main sources to finance the operating budget are:

• Property Rates –Anyone who owns fixed property (land, houses, factories, and office blocks) in the City area are charged property rates, based on the value of each property. Rates income is used to finance general services, such as roads, pavements, parks, streetlights, stormwater management, and the like.
• Service Charges / Tariffs –this refers to paying for services received from the municipality, ie water, electricity and the like.
• Fines
• Equitable share– this refers to the money a municipality gets from the national government each year.

COMMENT ON THE draft reviewed Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the period 2025/26 and the draft Multiyear Budget 2025/26- 2027/28.

You have the opportunity to view and comment on the City’s IDP and municipal budget, as part of the public participation process.

The draft IDP and budget documents are below, and you can comment through the ‘Comment’ form.

The deadline for all comments is 22 April 2025

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION MEETINGS

Communities are urged to participate in the process through their respective ward councillors. The City’s draft 2025/26 reviewed Integrated Development Plan and the 2025/26 – 2027/28 Multiyear budget is open for comments.

The draft IDP and budget, including the approved tariff structure, can be viewed at all public libraries, customer care centres and on the City’s website. Comments deadline is 22 April 2025.

Public engagements occur from 7 – 15 April, as per the list below. You can pre-register to attend the sessions by clicking here.

Draft Budget 2025/26