The City of Cape Town will not apply certain benefits allocated to the mayor, deputy mayor, and speaker.
|||Cape Town - The City of Cape Town will not apply certain benefits allocated to the mayor, deputy mayor, and speaker, it said on Wednesday.
Acting mayor Ian Neilson said in a statement the city would not take advantage of some provisions, as resources should be used for service delivery.
According to a national government notice in December 2012, the city was entitled to an official furnished residence for mayor Patricia de Lille and the sole use of council vehicles for the deputy mayor and speaker of the city.
“We must, at all times, remember that the money received from the people of our city must go towards improving the lives of communities across our city,” Neilson said.
The city introduced a number of austerity measures in its 2013/14 budget tabled in council at the end of March.
These cost-cutting measures included a R103 million reduction in the general expenses category, which affected travel, office furnishings, catering, and public relations projects.
The use of consultants had been reduced and there was a saving of R46 million in the staff budget after reducing the number of vacancies.
“In these challenging economic times we, who have been mandated to spend public money, must do everything to be as prudent as we possibly can,” Neilson said. - Sapa