Health allocated massive share of Western Cape budget

THE lion’s share of the provincial budget for the next three years – R83.2 billion – has been allocated to health

This is followed closely by education, with R79.4bn.

“We have listened to you, we have heard you, and today we are tabling a budget for you, all of you, in the Western Cape,” Finance MEC David Maynier said as he delivered the 2020 budget yesterday.

He said the province planned to spend R71.6bn in 2020/21, R74.9bn in 2021/22 and R78.3bn in 2022/23.

The budget will be spent across five districts and 30 municipalities in the province.

It allocated R49.2bn to the City of Cape Town, R8.1bn to the Cape Winelands, R3.6bn to the West Coast, R5.9bn to the Garden Route, R2.7bn to the Overberg and R904.2 million to the Central Karoo.

R1.1bn over the medium term will be used to deploy more law enforcement officers.

Meanwhile, R7.4bn will be spent on housing projects and R102.1m will be used to establish an Ease of Doing Business Unit, which will focus on eliminating systemic constraints to economic growth.

Political parties were not too impressed by the proposed spending, with the ANC saying: “It does not make sense that the DA-led province can promise it will change the built and living environment of people that are still trapped in apartheid systemic racism, while the same DA sells suitable public land in inaccessible areas to big developers for their economic enrichment.”

Shadow Finance MEC Nomi Nkondlo said: “The DA budget is still mostly directed at the elite, big business and tourists.

“People want to know what will happen this year and over the next few months.

“This budget lacks that kind of information.”

Good party secretary-general Brett Herron said while bold promises were made, their execution was not clear.

“Overall, the speech touched on many of the province’s urgent needs.

The MEC, however, didn’t provide enough detail to discern whether the ‘budget for you’ will achieve the objectives and vision.”

He also questioned the housing allocation, saying: “I welcome the acknowledgement that spatial transformation requires improved mobility and access to better-located housing.

“But the DA has a pathetic track record of tackling spatial transformation. The R7.4bn allocated to housing will not achieve spatial transformation if the Human Settlements Department continues to prioritise the development of large-scale RDP housing projects on urban peripheries.”

Overall, the speech touched on many of the province’s urgent needs

Brett Herron

Good party