Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has approved the Municipality of Beitbridge’s proposed US$15.9 million budget for 2025, representing an 18 percent increase from last year’s US$13.5 million budget.
A significant portion of the budget, US$10 million, will be allocated to capital projects in line with the town’s ongoing transformation into a modern city.
Beitbridge Town Clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola, said yesterday that they had received official communication on the latest development from the Secretary for Local Government and Public Works, Dr John Basera.
“We have received communication from the national government and we are ready to proceed,” he said.
Mr Ramakgapola added that the budget was approved along with a set of conditions, including the requirement to complete the 2022 and 2023 audits before the end of March this year.
The ministry also recommended that the local authority improve revenue collection to assist in clearing salary and statutory arrears, as well as continuously engaging with residents and ratepayers to recover outstanding debts for funding development activities.
The municipality has also been advised to embrace ICTs and ensure that all Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) modules are utilised, with progress to be monitored by the first quarter of this year.
Under the same budget, tariffs will continue to be pegged in United States dollars. Presenting the budget statement recently, Finance Committee Chairperson, Councillor John Manatsa, who is also the Deputy Mayor, stated that the budget was formulated following extensive consultations with residents, ratepayers, stakeholders, and other interested parties.
He said service delivery had been constrained due to financial limitations, as reflected by the low budget expenditure. Councillor Manatsa highlighted that the 2025 budget aimed to facilitate economic growth and development, serving as a catalyst for national economic transformation.
This year’s budget is anchored on the theme: “Consolidating Economic Transformation,” which aligns with the government’s National Development Strategy (NDS) and the vision of achieving upper-middle-income status by 2030.
“The budget has increased by 18 percent compared to the 2024 budget. The increase is due to layouts currently under development for stands that will be sold in 2025,” said the Town Clerk.
“The stands available to ratepayers will include high-density, medium-density, low-density, and commercial plots. Stakeholders should note that these will be council-owned stands, sold and serviced by the municipality.
“The tariffs remain unchanged in USD, except for a few that have been reduced, as we are a listening municipality.”
