#Budget2019 Increased allocations in grants and health
R567 billion for social grant payments will be set aside in the 2019/20 financial year.
THE National Treasury will in the 2019/20 financial year set aside R567 billion for social grant payments, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced during the 2019 budget speech in Cape Town on Wednesday.
This, he said, was to improve the conditions of life for all South Africans, especially the poor, as the country tackles poverty and inequality.
Mboweni announced that there would be an R80 increase in old age grants, from R1 695 in 2018 to R1 780 in 2019.
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Other increases are:
State old age (over 75): increases from R1 715 to R1 800 (5.0%)
War veterans: from R1 715 to R1 800 (5.0%)
Disability: from R1 695 to R1 780 (5.0%)
Foster care: from R960 to R1 000 (4.2%)
Care dependency: from R1 695 to R1 780 (5.0%)
Child support: R405 to R425 (4.9%)
According to the National Treasury’s 2019 Budget Review report, social grant coverage grows by about two per cent per year.
Speaking on the health sector, Mboweni said the budget was proposing a total non-interest spending over the next three years of R5.87 trillion across all sectors. Considered in this figure is the R717 billion for health services (including National Health Insurance).
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“In health, we need simple, effective interventions. We need more doctors and nurses. R2.8 billion has been reprioritised to a new human resources grant and R1 billion for medical interns. R1 billion has been added to raise the wages of community health care workers to R3 500 per month,” he said.
An added R319 million is being allocated to eliminate malaria in South Africa.
“The HIV/AIDS and malaria components receive an additional R1 billion in 2021/22 mainly to fund increased antiretroviral uptake, while the community outreach component receives an additional R1 billion to implement the minimum wage for community health workers in provinces. In line with the health sector’s ambition to eliminate malaria by 2023/24, the malaria component is allocated R318.8 million over the MTEF period,” the report states.
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A further R30 million is allocated in 2020/21 and 2021/22 to co-finance a regional malaria prevention project in Mozambique.
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