Speech by the Honourable MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Hon. SE Kholwane (MPL) during the occasion of the tabling of the Provincial Budget for the 2015/16 financial year at the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, Mbombela
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Executive Mayors and Members of the Mayoral Committees for Finance and Local Economic Development
Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders, Kgoshi ML Mokoena Director-General, Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize
Head of Department of Finance, Ms Nombedesho Nkamba and other heads of department
Chairpersons of Boards and Chief Executive Officers of the public entities Business Executive of the Office of Auditor-General in Mpumalanga
ANC Provincial Secretary, Comrade Lucky Ndinisa
2nd Deputy Provincial Secretary of the SACP, Comrade Mandla Tibane Provincial Secretary of Cosatu, Comrade Fidel Mlombo
Provincial Secretary of SANCO, Comrade Mike Soko Representatives of labour, business, civil society and the media Esteemed guests
Beloved people of Mpumalanga
The late Minister of Public Service and Administration, Comrade Collins Chabane shared a profound statement of commitment to the principles of transparency and accountability during the Good Governance Conference hosted by the Public Protector in 2004.
He said “We want to make sure that our limited resources as allocated are used effectively and efficiently to achieve value for money”.
As we approach this Provincial Budget, we fondly remember this gallant liberation fighter for accentuating the view that a true custodian of the public finance management legislation must hold.
In his honour, we must re-commit to his views on fiscal prudency every day, and continue the journey that he started as the first champion of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation systems in our government in 2009.
Madam Speaker
The Freedom Charter made a visionary clarion call, 60 years ago, that
“The people shall govern and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.”
It is a call that rallies our collective efforts towards building a national democratic society founded on the values of freedom, human dignity and equality. The Freedom Charter is instructive that:
- The people shall share in the Country’s wealth!
- There shall be work and security!
- The doors of learning and culture shall be opened, and that
- There shall be houses and comfort!
These ideals of the 1955 real Congress of the People have found expression in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
This is the journey the ANC led government has been leading over the last twenty one (21) years.
Working together, we have lifted more and more people out of extreme poverty. We have created jobs, expanded social grants, housing and basic services, and improved access to better education and health care. The Policy and Budget Statements of various Departments shall deal with the details of these milestones.
Our journey continues.
This journey has now reached a second phase in which the focus is the radical socio-economic transformation.
This is a mandate that was overwhelmingly confirmed by the people of South Africa through the National Polls in 2014.
The 2015/16 Provincial Budget Madam Speaker, can justly claim “authority” because it is based on the will of the people.
In addition to the 2014 ANC election Manifesto, this budget has been shaped by various consultations with public institutions in the Province. We canvassed the views of citizens using various platforms including social media.
I would like to take a minute of my time to share with this August House some of the comments we have received from the citizens of the Province, even from grassroots membership of the opposition parties, because this budget belongs to all who live in Mpumalanga, irrespective of ideological orientation.
Elzet Senyoko advises that we must “focus on creation of sustainable small businesses which would eradicate poverty”.
Bongani Phakathi says government must “focus more on assisting small businesses by relaxing some of the requirements required by our funding institutions so that we can be able to create employment.”
Having registered significant strides in various areas of our work to improve the quality of life of our people, there is no doubt that more work still needs to be done to improve business processes and also to address youth unemployment.
Honourable Speaker, each year the provincial budget takes into account some of the binding constraints of the global balance of economic forces.
These global economic forces which have a direct bearing on our ability to accelerate inclusive economic growth, deal with constraints such as inflation and interest rates, the rising cost of fuel and food.
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