MEC Peggy Nkonyeni: KwaZulu-Natal Prov Budget Speech

In the same vein, Inkosi S Ndwalane also suggested that maybe government should reconsider the deci- sion of paying social grants through banks. He said when social grants were disbursed at local pay points, communities were benefiting through informal trading. Kwesinye isikhathi imali igcine ingasafikanga kogogo nomkhulu, isidliwe abazukulu

We have taken note of other various comments and concerns raised by the people of KwaZulu-Natal which appear to be common challenges across the province. Issues such as the energy crisis, water supply, crime, poor road infrastructure, network coverage and high rate of youth unemployment have all been received.

Citizens of the province, you have been heard... no one will be left behind ...

Honourable Speaker, I am honoured that today I am tabling the Appropriation Bill, of 2023/24 in this House. I now table the Appropriation Bill together with the following documents:

• 2023/24 Provincial Budget Speech
• 2023/24 Estimates of Provincial Revenue and Expenditure (Green book)
• 2023/24 Estimates of Capital Expenditure (ECE)
• 2023/24 Socio-Economic Review and Outlook (SERO).

Madam Speaker, when appropriated, this Bill will give the legal basis for departments and public entities to spend their 2023/24 budgets.

2. ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND FISCAL POLICY CONSIDERATIONS
   1. Global economic outlook

Madam Speaker, our budget preparations and plans for the future cannot be undertaken in isolation from economic conditions that, in one way or another, shape our fiscal space. We must take cognisance of such developments. As I table this budget, the global economic landscape remains highly uncertain amid numerous devastating shocks that occurred last year. A series of turbulent challenges facing the global economy emanated partly from the geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine early in 2022. The conflict between these countries caused volatility in commodity and energy-related markets resulting in global supply chain constraints, soaring inflation rates, and worsening financial conditions.

These challenges, combined with a considerable deterioration in economic activity across the three major global economies, the United States, the Euro Area and China, weighed down global growth. In China, economic activity was disrupted by a worsening property market crisis as well as renewed COVID-19 out- breaks that warranted lockdown restrictions in multiple localities. These are the countries South Africa trades with, so negative trends in these economies also negatively impact our trade balance.

Global inflation accelerated sharply throughout 2022 owing to higher food and energy prices, which prompted a quicker monetary policy tightening by central banks worldwide to contain inflation. However, a tighter monetary policy reduces consumer spending, business investments and could cause over-indebt- edness.

It is within this context that, as outlined by the International Monetary Fund, global growth decelerated to an estimated 3.4% in 2022 and is projected to decline further to 2.9% this year. However, global growth is expected to gain momentum and rise to 3.1% in 2024 as the effects of inflationary pressures ease, and geopolitical conflicts dissipate.

2. African and South African economic review and outlook

The economic outlook of the continent is also negatively impacted by the geopolitical instability and dwin- dling state of the global economy. It is also affected by the unstable situations in some parts of Africa as a result of wars and the renewed scramble for Africa. However, the hope of Africa i now lies with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement as one of the flagship projects of the African Unions Agenda 2063.

It is a high determination trade agreement, with an all-inclusive scope that includes critical areas of Af- rica’s economy, for an example the digital trade and investment protection and other important areas. The objective of this Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement is to significantly boost intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added production and trade across all sectors of Africa’s economy and to elimi- nate barriers to trade in Africa.

Whilst the economy of South Africa has also not been spared from unfavourable conditions affecting the world economy, as inflation increased to high levels warranting urgent monetary policy response, terms of trade weakened due to falling global metal prices, and business confidence dropped to low levels.

The inflation rate increased significantly to an average of 6.9% in 2022, the highest since 2016, mainly driven by food and transport prices. Tighter monetary policy across developed economies prompted capi- tal outflows from emerging markets to “safe-haven” assets, which resulted in a depreciation of the Rand/ US dollar exchange rate.

In response to these developments and a rise in consumer inflation, the South African Reserve Bank raised interest rates by a cumulative 300 basis points between November 2021 and January this year. Unfortunately, higher inflation erodes household purchasing power and implies a rising cost of living, while higher interest rates constrain consumer spending.

The national economy continues to experience internal structural constraints, such as unreliable electric- ity supply, high levels of market concentration, inefficiencies in network industries and a high cost of doing business. As indicated by the Minister of Finance, Honourable Enock Godongwana, while tabling the national budget last month, levels of load shedding increased from 75 days in 2021 to 207 days in 2022. Therefore, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) deteriorated to an estimated 2.5% last year and is expected to decrease to 0.9% this year, reflecting the effects of prolonged load-shedding, especially in energy-intensive sectors of the economy.

Load-shedding has considerable economic costs. However, as part of structural reforms necessary to achieve higher economic growth and government’s response to this crisis, in the State of the Nation Ad- dress last month, the President declared a National State of Disaster to address the energy crisis and its impact. The state of disaster will, among others, accelerate the energy projects and limit regulatory re- quirements while maintaining environmental protection, procurement principles and technical standards.

In KwaZulu-Natal, we recognise the need to be more effective in fighting organised and sophisticated crimes. We are committed to addressing the resolutions of the country in this regard. To this end, while tabling the national budget last month, the Minister of Finance set aside substantial funding for law en- forcement agencies. As the province we will benefit from that allocation.

This allocation includes an additional R1.2 billion to employ an estimated 5000 police trainees and R1.7 billion for the government agencies responsible for addressing the shortcomings.

It is for this reason that we support the acceleration of the decision to implement and allocate a budget to the establishment of the Community Safety Intervention Unit in our province.

As indicated earlier, the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery plan provides a focused strategy to ad- dressing the critical challenges facing our economy. On a positive note, South Africa has managed to stabi- lize its public finances over the last few years, but the fiscal space remains limited. It is against this context that National Treasury indicated that the fiscal consolidation stance remains in place, but no further fiscal consolidation budget cuts are to be made over the MTEF period.

3. Economic performance in KwaZulu-Natal

The economy of KwaZulu-Natal is also not immune to global developments, such as the persistent geopo- litical conflict in Ukraine and global supply constraints. Our province endured unprecedented disastrous flooding early in 2022, which left considerable damage to social and economic infrastructure, as well as loss of lives. Global warming and resultant unpredictable climate change have become a severe threat to human development and economic progress, and require redesigned resilient infrastructure. 

With your permission Honourable Speaker, may we request the House to observe a moment of silence in honour of all the flood victims.

Despite these disheartening developments, our provincial economy emerged strongly with a GDP growth rate of 2.2% in the third quarter of 2022.

Honourable Members, we must continue implementing structural reforms to reignite our economic growth potential and create employment opportunities. Unemployment remains the biggest challenge facing the people of our province, and as government, we must continue to take decisive interventions to address these persistent challenges. The last two quarters had shown improvement in our country’s employment rate, which indicates that our strategies are yielding positive results.

Madam Speaker, the people of KwaZulu-Natal must take note that the above improvements took place amid the global economic crisis and high unemployment rate.

The provincial budget is being tabled against this backdrop.

4. Provincial allocation

I am very pleased to announce that we see the allocation of funds back to the province in this budget process with the funds allocated by National Treasury being mainly to assist Education and Health with the budget pressures that arose from the budget cuts made in previous budget processes. This allocation is most welcomed and follows extensive and continuous engagements with National Treasury. Further, additions have been made to the provincial fiscus for the carry-through of the 3 percent wage adjustment implemented last year, and the payment of Izinduna. In aggregate, these additions mean that the Provin- cial Equitable Share increases by R5.4 billion, R5 billion and R5.3 billion over the MTEF.

Also on a positive note is that there are no further fiscal consolidation budget cuts made by National Treasury in this budget process. This means that, while the budget cuts made by National Treasury over the 2021/22 and 2022/23 MTEF periods remain in our baseline, there are no further fiscal consolidation budget cuts made over the 2023/24 MTEF.

On the other hand, there are some reductions in the provincial budget as a result of the annual updates of the data that is used to determine the portion of the Provincial Equitable Share formula allocated to each province. As such, we see a decrease in our Provincial Equitable Share budget of R235.7 million, R548.3 million and R979 million over the MTEF. KwaZulu-Natal receives 20.33% of the Provincial Equitable Share, a reduction of 0.16% compared to the previous period. We continue to receive the second highest portion after Gauteng province. This reduction in funding means that we have had to cut back our spending plans by these amounts.

Similarly, we have had to make revisions to our Provincial Own Revenue, mainly to account for lower projected revenue to be collected from health patient fees due to the difficulty in collecting this revenue from the Road Accident Fund. We reviewed the collection trend against this item, and revised our revenue collection targets over the MTEF. There have been some increases in other revenue sources resulting in a net reduction of R34.9 million, R35.3 million and R49.3 million over the MTEF. This reduction in projected revenue results in further cuts in the amount we can spend.

In aggregate, then, the province has to cut back its spending by R270 million, R584 million and R1 billion over the MTEF. This cut is effected proportionately against all Votes in the two outer years of the MTEF, while in 2023/24 the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development are excluded from any budget cut due to their ongoing budget pressures and the ever-growing need to provide adequately for the critical basic social services that these departments deliver.

From a conditional grant allocation point of view, I am pleased to indicate that our budget sees increases over all the three years of the MTEF. Our conditional grant budget increases by R1.6 billion, R269.4 million and R1.4 billion over the MTEF.

A Contingency Reserve allows us to respond in-year when unforeseen circumstances arise. Consequently, the amounts of R126.8 million, R115.7 million and R138.4 million have been provided over the 2023/24 MTEF with the intention to supplement this in-year. The contingency reserves could be increased from funds within institutions that are unspent and uncommitted at year end. These funds can then be allo- cated in the Adjustments Budget which will be tabled in November 2023. This approach is in line with the concerns expressed by the Finance Portfolio Committee in its mid-year budget performance reviews that government resources are not being fully utilized while there are many budget pressures in the province. This is the lowest our Contingency Reserve has been, further highlighting the impact of the constrained fiscal environment that we face.

2.5 Provincial fiscal framework for 2023/24

The provincial fiscal framework provides the Provincial Equitable Share and conditional grants received from National Treasury, as well as the amount we anticipate to collect from our Provincial Own Revenue resources.

Table 1

Provincial fiscal framework

The Provincial Equitable Share amounts to R115.9 billion in 2023/24, with the amounts allocated over the MTEF being reflected in the table. The conditional grant allocation amounts to R26.3 billion. The total amount we receive from National Treasury is thus R142.3 billion. When adding the Provincial Own Rev- enue and provincial cash resources to this amount, the total revenue that the province has to finance the budget is, R146.2 billion, as shown in Line 1 of the table.

Line 2 shows that the provincial departments are planning to spend R146 billion in 2023/24 and the final line in the table shows what our Contingency Reserve is set at. I will provide details in this regard shortly.

2.6         Amendments to KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial equitable share

As mentioned earlier, we are very pleased to indicate that new funds have been allocated to the province by National Treasury and these are added to the Provincial Equitable Share.

Funds are allocated to the province for the carry-through costs of the 3% wage increment which was im- plemented from 2022/23 onward. In this regard, R2.1 billion per annum is added over the 2023/24 MTEF. This fully compensates the province for this cost. These funds are allocated proportionately to the Votes in line with each department’s share of the total Compensation of employees’ budget. We are aware of the current wage negotiations and have been assured that any further increases will be fully funded from the national fiscus which would be appropriated during the Adjustments Estimate.

National Treasury allocated new money for the budget pressures that both Education and Health have been experiencing since the severe budget cuts implemented in previous budget cycles. While these ad- ditional funds do not eliminate the budget cuts made in previous years, it does help to start lowering the budget pressures these departments have had to bear. Education receives R1.2 billion, R1.3 billion and R1.5 billion over the MTEF in this regard, while Health receives R1.5 billion, R1.6 billion and R1.6 billion.

National Treasury has allocated an additional R631.1 million in 2023/24 only, with this amount specifi- cally and exclusively allocated to settle the backpay relating to the payment of Izinduna. This follows a prolonged procedure of various inter-governmental processes with the amount allocated being equivalent to the value of the contingent liability submitted by Vote 11: COGTA. These funds have been long awaited with outstanding litigation and referral to the public protector and we are therefore extremely pleased that the matter has now been resolved. COGTA will ensure that there are proper internal controls before these funds are disbursed.

3. FUNDING FOR SPECIFIC PROVINCIAL PRIORITIES

Given the financial constraints, only a few departments are set to receive additional funding over the MTEF, apart from the funds allocated to the province by National Treasury. The allocations are as follows:

• Vote 1: Office of the Premier, receives an additional R100 million once-off in 2023/24 for the KZN Youth Empowerment Fund following the extensive responses received. The province is now ready to effectively disburse these funds hence the allocation in this financial year. I am therefore proud to say that this is one of our interventions in decisively responding to job creation, developing young entrepreneurs and alleviating poverty.
• Vote 2: Provincial Legislature receives an additional R100 million per annum towards increasing funding for political parties as the province is one of the lowest funded in this regard in the country (seventh out of the nine provinces) and these funds will mainly be used to increase the constituency allowance, as this is the area where political parties are experiencing the greatest pressure. We also undertake to allocate a further R15 million to this Vote in-year with regard to the voter education activities required in the lead-up to the 2024 general elections.
• Vote 9: Community Safety and Liaison receives additional R11.6 million once-off in 2023/24 for the establishment of the Community Safety Intervention Unit.

4. CONTINGENCY RESERVE

The Contingency Reserve is provided in order to protect the provincial fiscus against the impact of unfore- seen expenditure pressures when they arise. Like we said earlier, these funds can then be allocated in the Adjustments Budget which will be tabled in November 2023, as is the norm. The Contingency Reserve is a lot lower over the 2023/24 MTEF, but the province has plans to supplement these funds in-year, mainly by looking at funds that remain unspent in our public entities as a number of public entities have shown very low spending in the 2022/23 financial year. Further information in this regard will be presented as part of the 2023/24 Adjustments Estimate to be tabled later this year. The Contingency Reserve is set at R126.8 million in 2023/24.

5. CONDITIONAL GRANTS

A number of our government programmes are funded by conditional grants which are allocated to us in line with the Division of Revenue Act.

KwaZulu-Natal’s conditional grant allocation increases by R1.6 billion, R269.4 million and R1.4 billion over the 2023/24 MTEF.

Most of the conditional grants receive an inflationary increase, while others receive larger increases. Only the larger increases are elaborated in this presentation.

The Education Infrastructure grant increases by R379 million in 2023/24. This grant is incentive based and the increase is partly due to the incentive allocation where the department scored 80% in terms of submitting planning documentation and showing capacity to spend and thus received an incentive alloca- tion of R109 million. The increase also relates to the carry-through costs associated with the repairs and rehabilitation of schools damaged by the April 2022 floods and R269.3 million is allocated in this regard. This grant has a budget of R2.9 billion after these increases.

The National School Nutrition Programme grant receives an increase of R120.9 million in 2023/24, R112.6 million in 2024/25 and R226.6 million in 2025/26 to continue with the provision of nutritious meals. The budget for 2023/24 after the increase is R2.1 billion.

The Early Childhood Development (ECD) grant increases by R14.8 million, R45.5 million and R101 million over the MTEF and this provides for top-up to the subsidy amount, increasing access to the ECD sub- sidy, pre-registration support packages, and nutrition support and the results-based finance initiative. This grant increases to R197 million in 2023/24.

The Health Facility Revitalisation grant is increased by R78.2 million in 2023/24. The addition is because this grant is incentive based and because the department scored 94% cent in terms of submitting planning documentation and showing capacity to spend. With the increase, the budget for this grant is R1.5 billion in 2023/24.

The Provincial Roads Maintenance grant sees a significant increase of R760.1 million in 2023/24. Of this, R185 million relates to funds for the carry-through costs associated with repairs of provincial roads that were damaged by the April 2022 floods. This is in addition to the R589.3 million allocated to this grant in the 2022/23 Adjustments Estimate for further flood damages. The balance of R575.1 million relates to additional funds allocated to address the backlog in the refurbishment of provincial roads. The budget for this grant is R3.4 billion after this increase and shows our decisive commitment to improving our provincial road network including bridges providing access for communities and learners particularly in rural com- munities and townships.

The Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) grant increases by R163.4 million over the MTEF. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development had applied for funding through the Budget Facility for Infrastructure process facilitated by National Treasury, and this explains the bulk of the addi- tional funds received. The department was successful in securing funds for the construction of agri-hubs in the province with R8.4 million, R86.4 million and R58.2 million allocated to this project over the MTEF. The CASP grant budget is R230.6 million in 2023/24.

In aggregate, the province receives R195.5 million to create 7470 jobs through two EPWP conditional grants. The detail is provided as follows:

The EPWP Integrated Grant for Provinces receives R107.6 million, slightly lower than the R111.9 million received in the current year. This will be used to create 4 199 jobs. The budget is allocated as follows:

• DARD receives R4.6 million
• EDTEA receives R6.9 million
• Education receives R2 million
• Health receives R8.6 million
• Human Settlements receives R7.7 million
• Sport, Arts and Culture receives R2.1 million
• COGTA receives R2 million
• Transport receives R69.9 million
• Public Works receives R3.9 million

The Social Sector EPWP Incentive Grant for Provinces receives R87.9 million, also lower than the R99.8 million received in the current year. The departments plan to create 3 671 jobs through this allocation. The budget is allocated as follows:

• Education receives R31.8 million
• Health receives R21.1 million
• Community Safety and Liaison receives R3.8 million
• Sport, Arts and Culture receives R2.3 million
• Social Development receives R28.8 million

6. INFRASTRUCTURE

A recent study on the IMF Public Finance Management Blog highlights the importance of maintaining our existing assets, in view of the fact that public infrastructure is the foundation of a country’s economic development. As a result, assets that are not maintained, can lead to degradation of the asset which will have a negative effect on the economy as productivity declines. The Blog also highlighted that, according to the World Bank, returns on maintenance on road projects were almost twice as much as those on proj- ects that involved mainly new construction. In this province, around 56% of the infrastructure budget goes towards maintaining, upgrading and rehabilitating existing infrastructure. Maintenance is critical to ensure that maximum value is extracted over the useful life of the asset, which will decline rapidly if maintenance does not take place. This was evident during the floods where the costs of repairs were significantly higher due to the lack of maintenance.

The total infrastructure budget over the MTEF is R19.5 billion, R18.1 billion and R18.8 billion. A detailed list of all infrastructure projects that will be implemented is contained in the Estimates of Capital Expendi- ture which I am also tabling today.

The section below is detailing some of the projects that the provincial government will be implementing over the MTEF. However, the individual departmental votes will be in detail in all other projects that will be operationalized over this MTEF.

Infrastructure projects planned for the MTEF:

1. Transport

The Department of Transport will spend R26.3 billion over the next three years. The main projects planned over the MTEF are:

• The Mdloti River Vehicle Bridge project or also referred to as Ogunjini bridge entails the upgrade of the current low-level structure to be replaced by a new bridge along Main Road P713 in the Ndwedwe Local Municipality under the iLembe District Municipality. Work has started on this proj- ect and a contractor to finish this project will be appointed to ensure the bridge is complete in the coming financial year.
• Rehabilitation of Main Road P34-2 from Dundee to Vryheid from 7 to 22 kilometres and from 20 to 47 kilometres is planned for 2023/24.
• Upgrade of Main Road P123 in the Gqumeni area under the Harry Gwala District Municipality, which serves as a link between the communities of Bulwer and Gqumeni. The department has prioritised the upgrade of nearly 7 kilometres from gravel to blacktop standards to improve the standard of the road, improve access to facilities and ensure the safety of all road users.
• Upgrade of Main Road P714 Phase 2 (from 8 to 18 kilometres). This road is located within the iLembe District Municipality. The road provides access to schools and a clinic and is an important feeder road to the R614 and R102.
• Construction of the Mvubukazi Pedestrian River Bridge on the Mvubukazi River in Landauville in the Msunduzi Local Municipality.
• Construction of the Mhlalane Pedestrian River Bridge over the Mhlalane River in the uMshwathi Local Municipality.

2. Health

The Department of Health plans to spend R6.8 billion over the next three years on various projects, including the following:

• Conversion of the Newtown Community Health Centre in Inanda into a large clinic.
• Provision of new mental health units at the Port Shepstone Hospital and General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Hospital located in Stanger.
• Provision of a new clinic at Cwaka in Umsinga area.
• Completion of the asbestos removal programme, as well as the provision of generators across a number of facilities.
• Major security upgrades are planned for the Natalia building, including access controls, surveillance equipment, fencing, etc. throughout the facility.

7. OVERVIEW PER VOTE FOR THE 2023/24 FINANCIAL YEAR

This table shows the 2023/24 budget per department. The province has allocated 76% of its budget to Education and Health in 2023/24.

Approximately 62 per cent of the provincial budget goes towards paying the public servants in this prov- ince, with this relatively high percentage influenced strongly by the number of educators and health care workers employed. Around 10 per cent of the total budget is allocated towards transfers, with a large portion of this relating to transfers to public entities that receive R5.4 billion in 2023/24. We plan to spend around 7 per cent of our budget on capital-related expenditure, leaving a balance of nearly 22 per cent to purchase goods and services required to implement our service delivery programmes.

Departments are discussed in order of the size of their budget.

Table 2

Budgets per Vote

1. Education

As Che Guevara asserted “the walls of educational system must come down. Education should not be a privilege, so the children of those with money can study”.

The 2022 matric results were released early this year (2023) and the province attained an 83% pass rate, which is an increase from the 76.6% attained in 2021. It justifies our allocation to Education which is the highest in the Budget we are presenting today.

Therefore, the budget for Education is R60.6 billion, which is 41.5% and the largest share of the provincial budget. Budget reprioritisation was undertaken to ensure that there are ongoing improvements in this regard, such as improving the quality of Grade R programmes with a focus on literacy and numeracy, espe- cially reading, as well as teacher development and improving schools’ infrastructure.

It is pleasing to note that the 2023 distribution of Learner Teacher Support Materials (LTSM) was undertak- en in preparation for the 2023 academic year, with 100% of stationery and 99.3% of textbooks procured. The department will start planning for the 2024 school year in August 2023 to determine the needs of each school and to ensure the delivery of these materials in January 2024.

The National School Nutrition Programme grant allocation amounts to R2.1 billion. All 2.4 million learn- ers in quintiles 1 – 3, including some quintile 4 and 5 schools, will continue to be provided with balanced nutritious meals.

As indicated earlier, the department will complete the construction of new and replacement schools, with the construction of new schools aiming to address over-crowding, creating new teaching and learning spaces and providing specialist classrooms where required,

2. Health

The Department of Health receives the second highest portion of the provincial budget at 34.7%, with a budget of R50.7 billion. The department is targeting 42 out of 70 hospitals to move onto the eHealth system in the coming year. The eHealth system helps to ultimately reduce patients waiting times, address the challenge of missing and damaged patient’s files and also improve the department’s ability to defend itself against medico-legal claims. The department plans to increase the number of General Practitioners contracted through the National Health Insurance (NHI) grant. This will assist to reduce the relative cost of health care and increase access to medical professionals in needy communities.

The department will continue to render primary health care and district hospital services, and this in- cludes the provision of nutrition, maternal child and women’s health, TB/HIV and AIDS, among others. These services are offered in 170 mobile clinics, 590 fixed clinics, 22 Community Health Centres and 39 district hospitals. In this regard, the department aims for 100% of its clinics to achieve ideal clinic status by 2024. An ideal clinic is defined as a clinic with good infrastructure, adequate staff, adequate medicine and supplies, good administrative processes and sufficient adequate bulk supplies, among others.

The department plans to increase the average number of daily operational ambulances from 179 to 200 by 31 March 2024.

The department will award 480 bursaries in the 2023 academic year to internal employees to study vari- ous qualifications. This is to afford internal employees an opportunity for skills development in order to enhance career pathing through the improvement of their qualifications and to improve employee performance which will lead to improved service delivery. The department plans to implement a Clini- cal Outreach policy. The purpose of this is for medical specialists from the large hospitals, such as Greys, Ngwelezane and King Edward VIII, to travel to smaller hospitals to provide specialist services, to teach doc- tors in those hospitals and to attend to complicated cases.

To improve the responsiveness to maintenance requirements at the various facilities across the province, the department decentralised its infrastructure operations with three infrastructure management hubs being established in eThekwini, uMgungundlovu and Empangeni. It is anticipated that these hubs will bring about improved turnaround times on infrastructure-related matters that require specialised skills, as well as proactive maintenance.

3. Transport

The Department of Transport receives 8.9% of the provincial budget at R13 billion. The bulk of the de- partment’s budget is for the construction of roads, and the maintenance of the provincial road network. In 2023/24, the department will continue with construction and maintenance projects, the provision of subsidised bus services and learner transport services and will undertake law enforcement campaigns to promote road safety.

The department will continue with the upgrading and rehabilitation of the provincial road network to im- prove and prolong the lifespan of the network, and I already mentioned some of these projects earlier in this speech where I provided details of some of the planned infrastructure projects.

The department will continue to administer the learner transport services programme on behalf of the Department of Education. The number of schools to be assisted in 2023/24 is 402 schools with 73 933 learners, an increase from the 397 schools and 67 163 learners transported in the current year.

The department will continue with its poverty alleviation programme, namely Zibambele and the Vukay- ibambe Routine Road Maintenance Programme.

The Zibambele workers are women-headed households and are employed to maintain the road network, including gravel roads. Whilst the Vukayibambe Routine Road Maintenance Programme will continue to be implemented and is intended at implementing labour-intensive maintenance of provincial roads and other non-infrastructure projects. This has employed 6000 young people across all district municipalities.

4. Human Settlements

The Department of Human Settlements receives R4.3 billion. The main purpose of the department’s bud- get allocation is for the provision of housing to various sectors of the population, including rural areas and informal settlements. Some of these have already been mentioned in the infrastructure section of this speech.

Another major focus of the department is the Community Residential Unit (CRU) programme. A part of this includes the redevelopment of old hostels to CRUs and the construction of new CRU projects in vari- ous municipalities. In 2023/24, the department is planning to complete a total of 535 new CRU units in the following areas:

• eThekwini Metro,
• Amajuba District, Newcastle, N11 in Amajuba,
• Harry Gwala District, Greater Kokstad in Rocky Park and uBuhlebezwe,
• Umzinyathi, uMvoti Municipalities.
• iLembe district
• Umgungundlovu, Jika Joe in Msunduzi,

Besides the usual activities related to support provided to traditional institutional management, the de- partment is allocated R631.1 million in 2023/24, as indicated earlier, to settle the backpay amount owed to the Izinduna in this province. Prior to the department effecting any payments in this regard, a meeting will be held between Provincial Treasury and COGTA to discuss the payment process, as well as the internal controls in place to ensure that these funds are disbursed correctly. It should be noted that these funds are specifically and exclusively allocated and may, therefore, not be used for any other purpose.

9. Public Works

The Department of Public Works receives R1.7 billion. The department’s main role is to implement infra- structure projects for other provincial departments. Also, the department is responsible for the payment of property rates for all land and buildings registered in the provincial register.

In terms of its EPWP responsibilities, the department aims to continue providing technical support to all provincial departments and municipalities in order to achieve the EPWP work opportunity targets set for 2023/24. The set target for 2023/24 is 135 238 work opportunities and 62 479 Full Time Equivalents. The department, as the provincial co-ordinator of EPWP, will ensure that these targets are achieved, and will also ensure that all municipalities and provincial departments report on the EPWP reporting system.

The progress on the government precinct’s affordability assessment and appropriate funding model, which is informed by the detailed designs, will be finalised in the first quarter of the new financial year with the support of the Provincial Treasury’s Infrastructure and PPP team.

10. Sport, Arts and Culture

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture receives R1.5 billion. The department will continue to develop and promote arts and culture, as well as sport and recreation in the province.

Operation Siyaya Emhlangeni will be hosted in all districts as a build up towards the annual Reed Dance Celebrations in collaboration with the royal family. The department will also partner with various stake- holders in hosting events, such as Women’s Day, Heritage Day, Human Rights Day, Day of Reconciliation, etc.

Apart from hosting events, the department will implement skills development initiatives designed to ca- pacitate provincial artists. A total of 640 artists are targeted to be trained in music, theatre, fashion design and other disciplines. Support will also be provided to arts and culture establishments that service the province in various arts and culture disciplines.

The department plans to locate sports combination courts and libraries in close proximity to one another to attract the youth and to position libraries as centres of choice for the youth. The department is targeting to procure about 90 000 library materials to be distributed to all 219 public libraries. The department will provide free internet to more than 160 libraries and will host reading competitions in 12 municipalities, mainly in disadvantaged areas.