No Budget Allocated to Reconstruct Roads in Benoni AH

by Cllr Mike da Silva — DA PR Councillor in Ekurhuleni

Date: 18 April 2024

Release: Immediate

Type: Media Statement

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the City of Ekurhuleni is alarmed by responses to recent questions, which revealed that no budget has been allocated to reconstruct the desperately terrible roads in the Benoni Agricultural Holdings.

The poor condition of the roads is because the sand-sealed roads have exceeded their lifespan and have been historically undermaintained.

In response to the questions posed by the DA, Ekurhuleni stated that the resurfacing of roads in the BAH area would be a wasteful expenditure as they need to be reconstructed.

However, there is no budget allocated to the roads for this nor the outer financial years.

To make matters worse, the department indicated that it would cost an estimated 700 million rand to do the necessary work on the roads, this is money that the city is simply not in a position to afford. When pressed for a plan the response was simply that the reconstruction could only be funded through the IDP process, but this unclear answer misses the point.

The department stated that there are no available grants from the national or provincial government to possibly fund the exercise, ultimately leaving the residents in the lurch.

The DA will not rest until the matter is resolved and urges residents to participate in the IDP process.

We will also be submitting further questions to the City, the Province, and the National Government.

Cllr Mike da Silva

DA Councillor in Ekurhuleni

072 963 2654