R95.3bn provincial budget unveiled
THE GOOD NEWS
GAUTENG is shifting spending to work more closely with local government, just a year ahead of municipal elections.
Yesterday’s provincial budget, delivered in the Gauteng legislature by Finance MEC Barbara Creecy, took into account the ongoing hard economic climate and Premier David Makhura’s vision of a “seamlessly integrated, socially cohesive, economically inclusive city region”.
Gauteng has a budget of R95.3 billion for 2015/16, up from the previous year’s R89.9bn. Nearly three-quarters of the spending is for education and healthcare.
The funding crunch involved a drop of R500 million from what was previously expected for 2015/16 from the equitable share from national government, which is the main source of the provincial budgets.
However, Creecy has effectively covered that missing R500m with an unexpected extra R400m in provincial revenue and by saving about R100m by cutting non-core spending like catering, travel and use of venues.
Creecy said the R400m in provincial revenue – “a welcome boost” – came from interest on provincial investments and from better-than-expected revenue from vehicle licences.
The reshuffling of money to deal with the less-than-hopedfor funding meant a reshuffling of priorities, with the focus falling on the city region concept.
“Reprioritisation remains crucial in directing resources to the radical transformation, modernisation and reindustrialisation (TMR) programme of the Gauteng city region.
“To this extent, all departments have aligned their budgets to the TMR. So far, R7.3bn has been redirected to the city region priorities,” said Creecy.
The bulk of that R7.3bn was reprioritised in the new budget, but it also includes about R2bn reprioritised midway though 2014/15.
The city region concept includes support for projects run with the municipalities, with private sector funding raised through the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency. These include: waste projects in Joburg and Sedibeng; freight and logistics hubs in the Vaal, West Rand and Rosslyn; the ICT Smart City project in Nasrec; the jewellery manufacturing precinct in Ekurhuleni; and the Kopanong precinct.
There is also a focus on five developmental corridors in Gauteng, which together will get R10bn in 2015/16.
The Central corridor focuses on the financial sector, information and communication technology, and pharmaceutical industries. The Eastern corridor focuses on manufacturing, logistics and transport. The Northern corridor focuses on the Tshwane capital, the automotive indus-
HEALTH
An extra R496m, mainly for medicines and medical supplies. R10m in 2015/16 of R34m over three years for replacing the emergency medical services fleet. R917m in 2015/16 for medical students, employee bursaries and Cuban doctors to address the shortage of doctors.
EDUCATION
R704m in 2015/16 of R2.2bn over three years for the Secondary School Intervention Programme. R2.6bn in 2015/16 of R8bn over three years for building and fixing schools. R778m in 2015/16 for feeding pupils; this is mainly a national grant for schools in quintiles 1 to 3, but is topped up with another R100m from Gauteng to extend it to quintile 4. try and knowledge-based economy. The Western corridor includes tourism, agro-pro-
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
R5bn over three years for building 73 333 housing opportunities through mega projects like Syferfontein, Savan City, Fleurhof and Lion Park.
PREMIER’S OFFICE
R2.3m in 2015/16 for the war room to deal with complaints about service delivery.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
R189m in 2015/16 for civilian oversight, including visiting police stations to audit dockets. R16m in 2015/16 to link the e-Policing Project to the war room to improve service delivery.
WAIT AND SEE...
There was no relief on e-tolls, only a promise that there would be something in the province’s adjusted budget later in the year. cessing and logistics. The Southern corridor focuses on river tourism and agro-pro- cessing. The corridor funding includes allocations for housing, school upgrades, redevel- opment of hostels, health facilities, rehabilitation of roads and water infrastructure.