NELSPRUIT – The provincial Department of Health received its promised increase this week when the budget for 2014/15 was tabled to Mpumalanga Legislature. It was allocated R8,9 billion for the year.
This was an increase of 10,7 per cent from the previous year, above the 6,7 per cent at which the overall budget increased. Following Mr Madala Masuku, MEC for finance, tabling his budget on Tuesday afternoon, he told the press that the department’s augmented budget during the next three years would make it more accountable.
“There will be no excuse as of next year to say it had this problem because of money (sic),” said Masuku.
With regard to the medium-term economic framework, health is to be given R28,7 billion during the next three years. According to Masuku, who will not return to the provincial legislature after the elections (read article elsewhere), the budget will allow legislature to even take care of its own disaster management without treasury’s help.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) did not receive a large increase, even though it will take over land administration from the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration from April 1.
He said the provincial treasury was serious about curbing wasteful expenditure such as that which is unaccounted for travelling, catering and even printing costs of communications. However, he reminded public servants to respect public funds.
“In our work we noted that public servants ducked and dived financial responsibility. If you are the accounting officer, you can’t quote another. For example, the head of department must not blame wastages on an instruction from the MEC. It is easy to think you are in charge, but those resources are not ours. It is also the case among non-financial officials. This is a reminder that if they don’t change after being educated, they will get into trouble.”
The HOD, Ms Nombedesho Nkamba explained that present legislation allowed accounting officers to slightly deviate from their planned expenditure if they could give an explanation. “We need an environment where they know there will be consequences to any deviations. Treasury must strengthen its own oversight of others,” Nkamba said.
