Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Ruhan Robinson MPL.
The budget tabled today by the Gauteng MEC for Finance, Lebogang Maile, focuses on the wrong priorities, excluding the urgent need to address the collapsing infrastructure, which has resulted in a water, electricity, and pothole crisis. The maintenance needs of this province have been severely neglected for several years.
On paper, the budget may appear favourable, but the key issue of collapsing infrastructure has not been adequately addressed.
The budget for the new financial year covers about 2% of the maintenance needs. This is in stark contrast to the National Treasury norm, which is 8%.
The R4.6 billion for the e-Toll debt could have been used for infrastructure maintenance. Our water, electricity, roads, and school infrastructure are on the brink of collapsing.
Furthermore, there was no significant increase in the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development this year to address the infrastructure challenge faced by the province.
Gauteng’s roads are littered with potholes and sinkholes, yet the capital budget for roads and logistics is down by R500 million for the new financial year.
The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements’ capital budget is down by R1 billion for the new financial year. This is worrying given that the housing waiting list has exceeded R1.2 million people who are waiting for dignified housing in the province.
The Gauteng Department of Health’s budget was increased; however, it’s not enough to cover the outstanding debts and to provide quality healthcare services.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng will scrutinise the budget to ascertain how it will be spent during the new financial year. We cannot have a situation again where R1.92 billion is not spent, and a portion of the unspent funds is sent back to the national treasury. This deprives our residents of access to basic services.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would ensure that the service delivery and maintenance needs of the province are prioritised when allocating the budget to various departments. Stringent measures will be put in place to ensure that departments spend their allocated budgets and meet all targets. Yes, this can be done!
Gauteng residents deserve a government committed to fixing all the service delivery issues, and the DA in Midvaal has proven that this can be done, only with proper governance and management.