MAFIKENG MAIL- MAHIKENG: Delivering her last provincial annual budget that concludes the term of office of the sixth administration, the MEC for Finance Motlalepula Rosho said government has made positive strides particularly in the past five years to ensure that services reach all corners of the province.
She emphasized that the sixth administration strove to make the most of limited resources, supporting economic growth, core services, and social welfare.
“In 2019, the Sixth Administration made a commitment to the people of this province that it will continue to deliver services better, faster and smarter in order to build a performance-oriented state. Guided by these imperatives, government has implemented a range of initiatives that responded to the eradication of the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality,” said Rosho. She furthermore stated that since 2019 there has been a somewhat improvement in audit outcomes and that the project to improve the number of departments achieving clean audits is gradually gaining momentum. The province has registered significant progress in relation to the delivery of social and economic infrastructure. An investment of R6,98 billion in roads infrastructure was made over the last five (5) years whilst investment towards health care facilities for the past five years amounts to R3.51 billion. The province invested R4.44 billion in building new schools over the last five years and has delivered 22 075 housing units and 27 930 service stands to people at a total investment of R4.473 billion for the past five years.
She added that despite the hardships, the outgoing administration emerged victorious and reaffirmed that government is committed to continue with its efforts of creating a better life for all.
MEC Rosho told legislature that the the provincial fiscal framework consists of equitable share, conditional grants and own revenue amounting to R53.700 billion for the 2024/25 financial year,
The Social Cluster, consisting of Education, Health, Human Settlements, Social Development, and Arts, Culture, Sports & Recreation received a lion’s share amounting to R42.842 billion in 2024/25. The Department of Education receives R21.932 billion, Health is allocated R16.522 billion, Human Settlements’ budget is R1.826 billion, Social Development allocation amounts to R1.811 billion, whilst Arts, Culture, Sports & Recreation receives R750.401 million.
The Economic Cluster consisting of Public Works & Roads, Agriculture & Rural Development and Economic Development, Environment, Conservation & Tourism has been allocated a consolidated budget amounting to R6.224 billion in 2024/25 R4.032 billion for Public Works & Roads, R1.209 billion for Agriculture & Rural Development and R982.163 million for Economic Development, Environment, Conservation & Tourism.;
The Governance Cluster comprising of Community Safety and Transport Management, Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs, Provincial Treasury and the Office of the Premier is allocated an amount of R4.114 billion in 2024/25;
Community Safety and Transport Management is allocated R2.363 billion, Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs receives R697.360 million, Provincial Treasury’s allocation is R573.808 million whilst Office of the Premier is allocated R480.136 million; the Provincial Legislature receives R520.332 million.
“We impress upon departments and public entities to ensure that they spend the allocated funds prudently to reduce unnecessary spending on non-core items,” stated the MEC.
