Gauteng Adjustment Budget: poor and vulnerable sacrificed for maladministration

26 November 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng notes today’s Adjustment Budget delivered by the MEC for Finance, Nomuntu Nkomo-Ralehoko in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

Payments to those impacted by Life Esidimeni and investment into services for the poorest of the poor have been sacrificed to cater for the maladministration of the province.

The budget for Health and Housing has increased amounting to nearly R900 million and was largely funded by the underspending of R733 million in other departments.

The amounts surrendered by the departments include:

R155 million that should have been spent on persons impacted by Life Esidimeni;

R127 million that should have been provided by Social Development;

R250 million that should have been spent on schools; and

R97 million was surrendered that should have been used to build libraries, the Women’s Living Heritage Monument and the Provincial Archives

All this money was surrendered because of rollovers of accruals that include goods consumed last year but only paid for this year. This includes:

R300 million in Health

R80 million in Housing

R188 million in Community Services

In addition, the GPG has had to find R54 million to cover salary increases not budgeted for.

In our opinion this represents financial mismanagement. In short, this budget penalises the poor and the vulnerable to cover incompetence, mismanagement and probably corruption.

Issued by Mike Moriarty, DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Finance, 26 November 2019