The Democratic Alliance (DA) in uMgungundlovu District will conduct an oversight visit with a qualified rental valuator to inspect the exact piece of land involved in a proposed lease agreement.
We voted against the proposed lease agreement that will cost ratepayers over R500 000 even though its market value is just over R125 000. This agreement is an overvaluation and lacks transparency.
We were also not furnished with the actual lease agreement, and on that basis, we refused to adopt expenditure, to which we have no actual background or information for.
The proposed rental structure for approval was R8 per square meter for 2406 square meters of vacant land in the Impendle municipality. This is almost R20 000 per month and just over R500 000 for the 26-month lease.
Having consulted four different estate agents we are advised that R2 would be the maximum rental per square meter in a small rural municipality, such as Impendle, for vacant land.
The two items we objected to during yesterday’s council sitting were:
1. Recommendation 4.1.2 – “Approve a lease”
2. Recommendation 4.1.3 – “Approve expenditure for the lease”
Why would the ANC councillors be so willing to pass this through council when it is blatantly overpriced? This, also, while not being furnished with the actual lease agreement.
These funds could rather be directed to service delivery of our residents to improve their daily lives. The Democratic Alliance puts the needs of residents first. This type of unchecked expenditure that the ANC voted through, results in unnecessarily higher tariffs which place a burden on the residents.