Cape Town's budget was approved in the absence of opposition ANC councillors, who left before yesterday's vote.The walkout was led by ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe, who said the council had only acknowledged public comments on the draft budget, rather than responding to them individually as required by law.When speaker Dirk Smit called for the vote to adopt the budget ANC councillors banged on tables and engaged in a shouting match with members of the ruling DA.In her budget speech mayor Patricia de Lille said the city planned to invest more than R200-million in the expanded public works programme and had budgeted R2.5-billion for its social package, which assists poor households.A total of R779-million would be spent on water and sanitation to cater for informal settlements and backyarders.Sotashe criticised De Lille, saying the DA always said 70% of the budget was spent on the poor but that was not the case."Human settlements for our people cannot be postponed, that is why when we look at the budget allocation for the city towards land acquisition to build integrated communities for our people [at R28-million], it breaks the heart," he said...