Premier Stanley Mathabatha opens EXCO Budget Lekgotla

The Premier of Limpopo, Mr Chupu Stanley Mathabatha has on the, 14 November 2018, officially opened the Executive Council [EXCO] Budget Lekgotla at Zebula Golf Estate in Bela-Bela Municipality, Waterberg District. The EXCO Budget Lekgotla is held under them: Promoting fiscal sustainability in the province”.

In his opening remarks, Premier Mathabatha urged delegates that “As CEOs, CFOs, HODs and Municipal Managers, we are called upon to embrace the urgency of a prudent fiscal policy that is able to respond to our developmental objectives. Such a fiscal policy that is able to assist in ending poverty, addressing the question of unemployment and bridging the ballooning gap of inequality”.

He urged and warned that strategic planning meetings should never be reduced to talk-shows – this is because resource allocation always follows the work that was done in those sessions. “If your planning is not up to scratch, it would mean that resource allocation will be misdirected”, he advised.  He emphasised the importance of proper planning rather than rushing into implementing half-baked plans. 

“This Budget Lekgotla is taking place within an environment of the negative publicity emanating from the much-talked VBS saga. Contrary to what some may want to believe or want us to believe, the VBS story is not about individuals, neither is it about politics and political point-scoring. The VBS story is about the people”, says Premier Mathabatha. 

“This unfolding nightmare is about ordinary men and women who work very hard to build lives for themselves and to secure the future for their children. These are the people whose confidence has been betrayed in the worst possible manner. These are the men and women whose investments have been liquidated by greed and brazen criminality. The VBS story is about the misuse of public resources. The VBS story is a story about the total disregard of the laws and prescripts that govern the use and management of public resources”, says Premier. 

Premier Mathabatha said that his government know that the National Treasury did warn municipalities against investing in VBS and this was not because the National Treasury was against the imperatives of transformation or against the empowerment of a Black owned Bank.  “The reasons for this warning were very clear and well-articulated to the municipalities. Whilst the law permits municipalities to invest some of their resources with financial institutions, the law is very clear that such an investment should only be done with a Bank as defined in the Banks Act. We now all know that municipalities were made aware that VBS was not a registered Bank in terms of the Banks Act”, Premier Mathabatha alluded.

The Premier indicated that this Budget Lekgotla is also taking place within the context of the hostile national and global economic climate. This hostile global economic environment is characterised by amongst other things, the rise in crude fuel prices, the adoption of protectionist policies from countries such as the USA, and the trade war that is currently taking place between China and the USA. Basically, the world is in a scramble for resources and new trade partners. “This global reality impacts negatively on the attainment of our national development goals”, says Premier Mathabatha.

The EXCO Budget Lekgotla is currently underway will deliberate on the following items which are critical in the affairs of governance and impact on service delivery to our communities – implementation of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ); implementation of strategic infrastructure projects; an update of the 2018 National Senior Certificate Examinations; the twenty-five years review report and state of municipalities in the province.

At the same gathering the 2018/19 Conditional Grant and Equitable Share Rollovers; 2018/19 Proposed Provincial Adjustment Allocations; 2019/20 Provincial Fiscal Framework and Infrastructure Budget Allocations for the 2019/20 MTEF will be presented. Premier Mathabatha wished the Lekgotla a productive deliberations. 

Media contacts:
Kenny Mathivha - Spokesperson of Premier
Tel: 015 287 6139
Cell: 0824501331