At a special budget adjustment meeting on February 28, the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality council agreed to provide an additional R28.9m towards Buffalo City Development Agency (BCMDA) projects, Court Crescent in Quigney and the Waterworld upgrade.
Funds for this have been diverted from the completion of a range of projects in the metro including Phase 1 and 2 of Qumza Road Highway in Mdantsane, the extension of the Mdantsane Arts Centre, the upgrade of taxi rank infrastructure across the metro, upgrades of community halls across the metro as well as municipal assets replacements insurance.
The Waterworld site has been abandoned since November due to contractual disputes between BCMDA and Mvusuludzo Projects, leaving the site vulnerable to theft and vandalism.
BCMDA spokesperson Oyama Makalima was approached for comment regarding what the R28.9m would be used for, what the initial budget was spent on, how much infrastructure currently on site might need to be replaced due to vandalism or theft, and at the time of print he said that matter was being referred to city finance.
Ward councillor Shandre Hoffman has objected to an increase in funds for Court Crescent and Waterworld given the urgent need for maintenance and upgrade of amenities in her ward such as the Billy Francis community hall.
Hoffman said the DA did not support the adjustment budget.
“An excess of R200m has already been allocated and seemingly spent on these two vanity projects in the metro. It is unforgivable that we now allocate an additional R28.9m for Court Crescent and the abandoned site called Waterworld. We cannot continue to pour cash into poorly designed and managed projects like this.
“We suspect this cash injection is intended to get the contractor back on site at Waterworld, and if so, what happened to the cash we have already advanced for this project?
Luyanda Tetyana, from the Cultural and Creatives Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) in BCMM, said the council’s decision to redirect funds from the extension of the Mdantsane Arts Centre confirmed its efforts to exclude local artists from employment and development opportunities.
In 2022, CCIFSA staged a boycott of local festivals such as the Switching on of the Lights, in protest against the freeze placed on funding artists in the metro last year and to highlight CCIFSA’s exclusion from stakeholders’ engagements with BCMM LED.
“The discovery of funds being re-directed to fund Buffalo City Metropolitan Development Agency’s controversial incomplete white elephant projects such as Waterworld is indicative of local government’s deliberate efforts to keep black people, in this case, artists, in poverty,” Tetyana said.
“Mdantsane Arts Centre along with the Gompo Arts Centre are in dire need of refurbishment to allow artists to work efficiently and provide better opportunities for artists to escape poverty. This gross mismanagement of funds is not only appalling but deceitful.
“While we as CCIFSA in BCMM can appreciate the fiscal challenges the pandemic has caused for the municipality, we reject the current position to neglect critical centres of art and further use funds allocated for these centres for projects that are demonstrating gross mismanagement of funds. We call on local government to immediately address the plight of artists.”
Gabs Mtshala from the South African National Taxi Council said it was “highly important for Taxi Ranks to receive upgrades as they were mainly used by a high number of commuters and vehicles. For example, public toilets needed constant maintenance and cleaning.
“Heavy rains and storms cause a lot of damage in rank roofs and shelters. Sometimes even the surface at the rank, whether it’s tar or paving, is impacted.
“If taxi ranks are unmaintained, taxis get damaged easily and commuters’ parcels and groceries are damaged on rainy days. There are no proper and secured shelters on cold days as well.”
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