Budget address by Ms Ina Cronjé KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Finance, on tabling of the 2014 MTEF Budget in the Provincial Legislature
This year we are celebrating 20 years of democracy. As we celebrate, we tell our story.
For the vast majority of South Africans, our country is today a much better place than it was 20 years ago. In the space of one generation we have made enormous strides. The average income of South Africans which declined by 15% in the last decade of apartheid rule, has increased by over 30% since 1994 when the democratic government came into power.
We pay tribute to our great leader Nelson Mandela and those who came before him for the tremendous role they had played in writing the story of our democracy - and what a story:
We have achieved beyond expectations:
- A stable democratic country at peace with itself.
- The economy has created 5.9 million jobs since 1996.
- In the last 19 years, the South African economy grew by 77% in real terms.
- Near-universal school enrolment and the steady increase in average years of education have improved the life prospects of millions of South Africans. University enrolment has doubled.
- Access to basic services has grown rapidly.
- There has been a significant increase in black participation in the economy, most visible in the transformation of the middle class.
- Black ownership of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed shares increased from 5% in 1995 to 21% in 2012. The percentage of executive managers who are black (both public and private sector) increased from 13% in 2000 to 32% in 2012, and senior managers who are black increased from 19% in 2000 to 39% in 2012. Africans now make up the majority of South Africa’s middle-class.
- Well-regulated and well-managed financial institutions are able to respond to changing global conditions, to mention a few.
But Madiba reminded us that “none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.”
Of course, we are aware that our job is not done. We have had 20 years of progress but profound challenges remain. Partnerships are needed to overcome entrenched structural unemployment and more effective social services and rapid job creation are needed to overcome severe inequality of income and opportunity.
We welcome all our stakeholders in the public gallery who are with us today to share our three year budget plan for the Province that will help us achieve even more. Our budget is a well-considered financial plan that must be implemented consistently over time with a long term outlook on creating wealth by addressing inequality, poverty and unemployment.
A. The Budget: A good story to tell
Today I am tabling the 2014/15 Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (MTREF) for the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. More details can be found in the 2014/15 MTEF’s Estimates of Provincial Revenue and Expenditure which I am also tabling as part of the budget documentation.
Over the past 20 years, South Africa has built a solid foundation on which to address its challenges. Laying the basis for a new, more inclusive growth path, the National Development Plan (NDP) increasingly guides the allocation of public resources.
Our budget must therefore progressively realise our goals, namely:
1. Job Creation
2. Human Resource Development
3. Human and Community Development
4. Environmental Sustainability
5. Strategic Infrastructure
6. Good Governance and Policy
7. Spatial Equity
To give effect to the NDP, Departments and Public Entities must demonstrate that their budgets are informed by the National Development Plan, as well as provincial priorities which are encapsulated in the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) and the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) - both aligned to the National Development Plan.
In preparing the budget Provincial Treasury must ensure that we have enough revenue to cover expenditure to provide sustainable service delivery to all our citizens. We also need to respond to changed circumstance and new priorities and pressures, which will then be effected in the 2014/15 Adjustments Estimate.
