The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) said on Friday that its departments had spent R74.7-billion, or 99%, of their budget for the 2012/13 financial year.

This reflected an improvement on spending from the year before to meet the service delivery needs of South Africa’s most populous city in an efficient and cost-effective way.

The remaining 1% that had not been spent had already been committed, Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe said in a statement on Friday.

“It is critical for GPG departments to institutionalise (at strategic and operational levels) financial discipline and continue with the implementation of cost-cutting and cost-containment measures to ensure that the available resources make a significant impact on service delivery,” he added.

Gauteng’s Education, Health and Agriculture and Rural Development departments attracted the most focus during the year.

The departments of Health and Education accounted for 36% and 38% respectively of the provincial expenditure, while the departments of Education and Agriculture and Rural Development drove infrastructure expenditure.

The GPG spent R8.7-billion on infrastructure projects in the year under review – 96% of the total budget for infrastructure and 8% higher than that spent in the prior year.

“Infrastructure expenditure continues to improve in the province due to various initiatives that are being implemented pertaining to project planning, budgeting and implementation,” said Nkomfe.

Key projects included the construction of new schools, maintenance of various schools, the upgrading of existing schools to include Grade R classrooms, the rehabilitation and refurbishment of 70 schools and the provision of additional mobile classrooms and ablution blocks in various schools.

The province planned to continue its roll-out of infrastructure programmes, including roads, schools and hospitals, as well as broadband connectivity, over the next financial year.

“The Gauteng Provincial Treasury will soon present proposals on how to improve supply chain management processes for all infrastructure departments so that we further enhance spending in this regard,” Nkomfe added.

About R25-billion had been allocated for the development of infrastructure, which was a catalyst for economic growth and job creation, over the next three years.