Where money goes in the KZN budget

KWAZULU-Natal’s provincial budget is set to top R122 billion in the next financial year – a R7bn increase.

MEC for Finance in the province, Belinda Scott, made the announcement when she delivered the provincial budget to the KZN Legislature in Pietermaritzburg yesterday.

Scott said that despite the encouraging economic outlook, the country’s financial position was still under severe pressure, “demanding that we make tough decisions”.

She reiterated that the government still faced a revenue shortfall of R48.2bn in the current financial year. However, the consolidated deficit is projected to narrow from 4.3% of gross domestic product this year to 3.5% in 2020/21.

The departments of education and health will receive the lion’s share of the provincial budget, with education receiving 41.6% of the budget at R50.9bn and R42.3bn for health.

Scott said education’s budget was to focus on improving curriculum delivery, particularly through delivering high-quality pupil-teacher support material.

Health receives 34.6% of the budget to continue the delivery of primary health-care services to the approximately 88.1% uninsured population of the province.

The provincial Department of Transport is the third biggest recipient of funding, taking up R10bn. The bulk of the budget over the next three years is for construction, upgrade and the maintenance of the provincial road network.

The department will continue to subsidise bus services as well as host law enforcement and road safety campaigns.

Scott said R200 million worth of projects would be implemented using labourintensive construction as the department has set a target of creating almost 60 000 work opportunities in this financial year.

The Department of Human Settlements receives R3.6bn mainly for the provision of housing to various sectors, especially those living in rural and informal settlements.

Slums

“Continued focus on slum clearance projects remains a provincial priority. It is anticipated that these projects will provide alternative and permanent housing for 134 601 families living in slums, with 24 522 units expected to be built over the MTEF (medium-term expenditure framework).”

The Office of the Premier receives R787.1m, while the provincial treasury receives R650.9m for financial governance, internal audits and supply chain management.

The Department of Social Development receives R3.3bn, with the bulk of the department’s budget allocation mainly for the provision of social work practitioners. This includes national priority funding allocated for the improvement of the quality of services provided by NPOs.

Agriculture and Rural Development receives R2.3bn. Through the food and nutrition security programme, the department has budgeted R203m for interventions.

Sports and Recreation receives R452m, the provincial legislature R565.2m and Community Safety and Liaison R224.9m.