Gauteng has been allocated R85.6-billion from national government for the 2014/15 fiscal period which, combined with additional own-generated revenue, provides provincial departments with an allocated budget of R86.9-billion for the period.

Over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the departmental budget would grow to R94.7-billion in the 2015/16 fiscal period and to R98.9-billion in the 2016/17 financial year.   

Since 2009, more than R345-billion had been appropriated for spending in the province, with funding sourced from equitable share and conditional grants from national government as well as own-generated revenue.

The Gauteng Provincial Treasury noted in a statement that the province’s 2014/15 Provincial Budget, which was released this week, was characterised by “tight” fiscal constraints and subsequent trade-offs between competing priorities.

“In an environment where we have limited resources against a myriad of needs, it becomes imperative for departments to prioritise core functions and continue to assess how to improve both the method and vehicle of delivery, ensuring that services are provided in the most effective and efficient manner,” noted Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe.

In framing the 2014/15 Provincial Budget, he said Provincial Treasury had been guided by the prudent deployment of resources, a reprioritisation away from consumption towards investment, the stimulation of employment growth and improved education.

As such, R694.1-million had been set aside for the planning and construction of new schools in 2014/15 to address classroom needs in various communities.

R120.6-million of the provincial budget was allocated to address the challenges of school safety, which involved training patrollers, investigating incidents of crime and violence in schools, taking corrective action and monitoring schools’ safety levels.

A further R120.9-million had been made available to provide aftercare services to school children for the 2014/15 period, while an additional R259.7-million had been allocated to provide aftercare during the “outer years” of the MTEF.

“Moreover, a total budget of R540.3-million is being set aside [for] the rehabilitation of schools in the province,” noted Nkomfe.

Looking to healthcare, in the coming financial year and beyond, the province aimed to strengthen its three streams of primary health, which included “re-engineering”, implementing interventions to address noncommunicable diseases and ensuring health system effectiveness through the Health Turnaround Strategy.

To this end, R641-million had been set aside in 2014/15 towards the strengthening of primary healthcare in the province.

“These funds will be used [to ensure] that the public will have increased accessibility by extending the hours and services at community health centres and for the training and placement of community health workers in new wards.  Our intention is to reach 80% of municipal wards by the end of 2014/15,” Nkomfe said.

In addition, an amount of R553-million was “reprioritised” to both central and tertiary hospitals, bringing the total budget for the two over the period to R10.6-billion. 

Looking to infrastructure, the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport was allocated R2-billion in 2014/15 to continue work towards upgrading and rehabilitating the road networks.

Meanwhile, over the MTEF, a grant amount of R15.1-billion would be transferred to the province for delivery of housing projects, while R550.2-million would be set aside for all urban renewal projects in Gauteng.

Further, a total of R510-million was allocated over two years, starting from 2014/15, to fund the roll-out of the Gauteng Broadband Network (GBN).

“During the first phase of seeking to ‘bridge the digital divide’, this network will invariably connect all Gauteng provincial government buildings, community service centres, identified economic zones and priority townships,” Nkomfe stated.

The design and roll-out of the core and access network was scheduled to start on April 1 and would take 18 months to complete.

GBN would introduce high-speed fibre optic transmission speeds, allowing each GPG building to access the network at the speed of at least 1 Gb/s, which was about 500 times faster than the current network speeds.

Nkomfe said provincial government was “mindful” of the challenges faced by its citizens, particularly around the cost of living, such as food and transportation costs. 

“As government, we continue to work with our people and different role-players towards finding a sustainable way of alleviating the pressures faced by individuals and households.

“[In future], the province will continue to prioritise cost containment, given the anticipated increases in goods and services and other inflationary pressures,” he outlined.