Treasury rewards Bay with R178m

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has received a windfall of R178-million as a reward for spending its full Urban Settlement Development grant for the 2016-17 financial year. These funds were given to the metro as part of the national Treasury’s new policy of punishing under-spending of grant funding and rewarding compliant and prudent use thereof.

Mayor Athol Trollip said the reward was an endorsement of the work done by the coalition government since it came into office in August 2016. “With a vast capital infrastructure maintenance backlog, this additional funding will go a long way to improving the lives of residents living in township communities,” he said. “The municipality will now be able to increase the rate at which gravel roads are tarred, water and sanitation infrastructure is repaired or replaced, public lighting is installed and public open spaces are created and kept well-run.”