MBOMBELA – The tight fiscal environment demands not only efficiency in the utilisation of resources but also the slowing down of spending on non-critical activities.
This was the message today of finance MEC Mr Eric Kholwane who delivered his budget speech for the financial year starting on April 1 in legislature this afternoon. It amounts to about R1 billion more than in the 2014/15 year.
“An instant moratorium on funded and unfunded vacancies has been introduced in all departments with the exception of the provincial legislature, Department of Health with specific reference for identified categories of posts and school-based posts in the Department of Education.”
These posts include 1 571 critical vacant posts in health. This measure allows R233 million to be redirected to other service delivery priorities. The allocation from the budget to remuneration for employees has thus been reduced from 60 per cent to 58,3 per cent.
A total of R50 million from slow spending projects, such as the much hyped traffic college and branches for the Department of Social Development are also being redirected to service delivery, Kholwane said.
Opposition parties critisised departments’ consistent inability to spend their money, especially conditional grants.
Kholwane told Lowvelder he put this down to planning. “We say to them spend, but spend correctly.”
- Read the next edition of Lowvelder for the full budget breakdown and to see how the opposition reacted and see a breakdown of last year’s budget here.
