At the beginning of this term of government, the Gauteng Provincial Government adopted the Outcomes Approach as a methodology to guide planning and budgeting.
In essence, we said, we will no longer fund departments or programmes but rather outcomes as reflected in the GPG Medium Term Strategic Framework. Our work, therefore, is focused solely on the realisation of the following:
- Quality education
- A long and healthy life for all South Africans
- Decent employment through inclusive growth
- Ensuring all people in South Africa are and feel safe
- Vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities contributing towards food security for all
- Sustainable human settlements and improved quality of household life
- A responsive, accountable, efficient and effective local government system
- An efficient, effective and development-oriented public service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship
This approach increases cooperative governance in the pursuit of common goals. That is why the Outcomes Approach continues to inform the planning and budgeting processes of GPG.
The 2012/13 Provincial Appropriation Bill is informed by the following principles:
- Balancing the unlimited needs with the limited resources available;
- Eliminating wasteful expenditure to ensure availability of funds for spending requirements of the province;
- Directing resources towards effective programmes to improve the livelihood of the citizens;
- Allowing commitments that can be met with available resources;
- Improving the province’s financial situation through interventions to restore the financial management in the health sector;
- Allocating resources to infrastructure projects with assessed readiness for implementation.
The province has allocated a total budget that increase from R69.3 billion in 2012/13 to R81.5
billion in 2014/15. In the 2012/13 Provincial Budget, we have set aside funds for, amongst other things, clearing of accruals for the Department of Health, infrastructure projects that might demonstrate readiness for implementation during the course of the year; and any critical priorities and unforeseen expenditure that may occur during the year.
Infrastructure investment programme
Our development focus this year is on building a modern infrastructure that support economic growth, job creation, and enable us to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. It is through the provision of quality infrastructure that businesses flourish and communities enjoy a better life.
Therefore, we allocate R30.6 billion towards infrastructure investment over the MTEF. This is a combination of both the provincial equitable share and conditional grant funding.
In the 2012/2013 financial year, R1.4 billion has been made available for the construction of new health facilities, as well as maintenance and rehabilitation of existing facilities. Out of this amount, R850 million will be used for the maintenance of health facilities and part of the balance will be directed towards the following:
- Renovations to nursing colleges, namely: Garankuwa, SG Lourens, Bona Lesedi and Ann Latsky – R28.4 million
- New hospitals i.e. Natalspruit and Zola – R232.9 million
- Equipment forNatalspruit, Zola and Berth Gxowa hospitals – R214 million
Over the 2012 MTEF, Health receives R6.1 billion for the implementation of the infrastructure programme.
The provision of Quality Basic Education remains the central priority of the current administration. Therefore the province has set aside R4.3 billion over the medium term for the construction of new schools, maintenance, and upgrading of existing schools. Included in this amount is the allocation of R120 million for the construction of the Magaliesberg Boarding School, which is expected to be completed during the 2013/14 financial year.
Road infrastructure plays a significant role towards job creation and poverty alleviation in the province.An amount of R1 billion is thus set aside over the MTEF for upgrading the Voortrekker Road R55, Malibongwe Road K154, William Nicol, Leondale RoadR103, Adcock Road, and the Mamelodi / Hans Strydom intersection.
Construction of walkways and bicycle lanes do not only contribute to infrastructure development, but improve health and fitness, road safety and environment-friendly transportation. To this end, an amount of R68.8 million is made available for the construction of walkways and bicycle lanes over the MTEF.
As the Provincial Government, we believe that the capacity to deliver on infrastructure projects must be addressed in order to ensure that scarce resources are directed towards economic development. This is because incapacity and under-spending in infrastructure projects deprives communities of essential amenities.
Therefore in this financial year, we will build effective project management capacity and leverage from strategic partnerships. We will also capacitate all infrastructure delivery departments.The Department of Roads and Transport has been allocated R20 million for recruiting qualified and registered engineers from all disciplines and other technical expects. A further R15 million has been set aside for the Department of Infrastructure in this regard.
Addressing challenges in the Department of Health
We are committed to stabilising the financial wellbeing of the Department of Health. In the five-month period to March this year, an additional R1.6 billion was made available to the Department of Health to pay for critical services. This demonstrates our determination to improve the viability and effectiveness of this Department.
In the 2012/13 financial year, we have set aside in excess of R1 billion to settle accrued expenses in this Department. Over andabove the additional resources that have been set aside for accruals, the budget allocation of the Department of Health increases from R23.3 billion in 2011/12 to R29.3 billion in 2014/15. This represents an annual growth rate of 8 per cent over the MTEF.
Decent employment through inclusive economic growth
Unemployment in general and Youth Unemployment in particular remain unacceptably high in South Africa. Clearly, this is a course of concern, hence, we urge everyone in government, organised labour, and the private sector to do whatever is legally possible to address the unemployment challenge. The government on its part will intensify its efforts to boost economic growth in the province.
In terms of strategic economic infrastructure, the development of a globally competitive airport city in the OR Tambo International Airport is aligned to the Aerotropolis programme. This programme seeks to grow the Gauteng economy through crowding in foreign and local direct investment in this Industrial Development Zone (IDZ). Over the MTEF, R23 million will be allocated to the planning process leading to the achievement of phase 2 of the IDZ by 2014.
These re-industrialisation initiatives seek to train tool-making artisans, steel industry sector developments, develop the automotive sector, and 20 Business Process Outsourcing and Offshoring (BPO-O) enterprises by 2014.
An amount of R7 million will be allocated over the MTEF towards enabling the registration of green projects which can potentially generate foreign currency inflows by 2014. These green economy initiatives relate to supporting agro-processing businesses and other environmentally-friendly projects, including gas pipeline reticulation in the province.
Specific tourism projects include infrastructure upgrades at Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves, and the establishment of a Visitor Centre and Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in the Constitutional Hill precinct by 2014.An amount of R4 million is allocated to upgrade the Maropeng infrastructure, and another R7 million annually over the MTEF is allocated towards the Constitutional Hill project.
The knowledge based economy is vital for driving the competitiveness and growth in the province. In support of these developments, R15 million will be invested in infrastructure which supports Smart City innovations during the 2012/13 financial year. Furthermore, feasibility investigations of the G-Link Broadband solution have been completed, and technology partners will now be sought for the roll-out phases.
Allocations for the Social Sector
We are committed to ensure a long and healthy life for all South Africans. As such the Provincial Government is focused on interventions to reduce mortality rate and increase life expectancy by implementing measures to detect children’s diseases and curb the spread thereof. With regard to HIV/Aids, the government will extend its programmes that relate to mass education, treatment of pregnant mothers and the other infected and affected people. Health will spend more than R8 billion on HIV/Aids programmes over the MTEF.
In our quest to ensure that the province continues to provide quality education and improves throughput from the schooling system, a sizeable budget is set aside for the implementation of various programmes, including the following targeted interventions:
- The Secondary School Improvement Programme which provides grade 10, 11 and 12 with supplementary tuition in specific subjects receives an allocation of R496.8 million over three years.Teachers also benefit from this program by receiving in-service training where poor performance is identified.
- Over the 2012 MTEF, R547.2 million is made available for scholar transport, while R1.7 billion is set aside for the school nutrition programme.
- Further support is provided to parents in accordance with the No-Fee School Policy, which currently supports 51% of all provincial learners. The total amount allocated for the expansion of this policy is R261.3 million over the MTEF.
Enhancing the capacity of the state to fight fraud and corruption
In addition to other measures to tackle corruption, the province has allocated R2 million in 2012/13, which increases gradually to R2.2 million in 2014/15 to fight corruption in the province.This amount will fund the Public Liaison Hotline and the rollout of anti-corruption communication campaigns, departmental workshops and ethics training, Minimum Anti-Corruption Capacity requirements in provincial departments and the revision of the framework on financial disclosure to include employees at levels below senior managers.
Therefore, the capacity of the Supply Chain Management Policy and Monitoring unit in the Provincial Treasury will be strengthened to ensure compliance in both municipalities and provincial departments. Measures will also be taken to improve a culture of compliance with the Supply Chain Management policy framework.
The new preferential procurement regulations and Treasury Instruction Note on enhancing compliance, and the timely reporting of non-compliance to the Provincial Treasury, the Auditor General, and National Treasury will assist us in reducing deviations from normal procurement processes, and thus avoid irregular expenditure.
In addition, all supply chain management officials in the Provincial and Local Government sphere will undergo security vetting. This intervention forms part of our efforts to root out fraud and corruption, which manifests itself primarily in procurement processes.
Enquiries:
John Sukazi
Cell: 0837724885
E-mail:gdfmedia@gauteng.gov.za
