MBOMBELA – The total budget for the provincial Department of Education has been increased by R2 billion.
The education budget for 2014/15 was the first to be tabled to legislature yesterday. The MEC Ms Reginah Mhaule requested that it increase from R14,9 billion last year to R16,1 billion.
See the full breakdown of the speech here.
According to the proposed budget, R937 million will be spent on school-infrastructure development. Last year, R586 million was budgeted for this, but treasury had to assist the department with an additional R71 million for fixing storm-damaged schools after serious flooding in the province.
A total of R525 million had also been set aside for the department’s school-nutrition programme for 2014.
It had recently come in the spotlight when the High Court ruled that the awarded three-year contracts be readjudicated after losing bidders took the matter to court.
Documents show the contracts amount to R1,5 million over three years with the expenditure framework indicating R440,9 million will be spent this year, R474,6 million next year and R500,7 million in 2016.
Read the official opposition’s view of the proposed budget here.
See the MEC’s speech below.
2014 Policy and Budget Speech 24 July 2014 Final
