WESTERN CAPE BUDGET: Extra money for the Premier, lots for Wesgro, little for stated provincial priorities including health
Statement by Brett Herron, GOOD’s representative in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature
19 March 2020
Concerns over the spread of Covid-19 led to truncated proceedings in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature, and the adoption of the 2020/2021 budget without debate today.
Had the debate taken place I planned to point out two major incongruities:
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The almost R120 million increase in the Department of the Premier’s budget is more than Winde’s government will spend on drug rehabilitation and prevention across the whole province.
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The budget does not accord with the five strategic priorities identified by the provincial government, including safety and spatial transformation.
The DA government says it wants to do the right things. It’s failure to budget for these things says all we need to know about its commitment.
For example, the Western Cape Safety Plan promises more boots on the ground together with social programmes to address the root causes of crime. There’s a massive budget allocation to fund the extra boots bit, but the budgets of the Social Development, Education and Health Departments don’t reflect any money to implement social programmes on the ground.
The Education budget does not acknowledge the existence of the Western Cape Safety Plan at all. Instead, with teachers and learners being stabbed and shot in our schools, the budget signals a “business as usual” attitude. The Department of Social Development acknowledges the plan while reducing spending on drug treatment programmes.
Another provincial government priority promises mobility and spatial transformation. Once again, there is no evidence of any commitment to this priority in the budgets of the Planning, Human Settlements, and Transport and Public Works departments. After 26 years of democracy and more than a decade of DA government, these budgets demonstrate that the status quo will prevail.
“The numbers don’t lie” said Herron. “The province has cut its housing budget, cut its support for drug rehabilitation programmes, and barely increased the health budget above inflation (with Covid-19 already in our midst).
Health gets 6% extra, while The Office of the Premier gets 7.5% more, and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism gets a whopping 15.5% increase.
The allocation for WESGRO alone jumps by more than one third. The Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s Administrative costs get an extra R7 million this year, a R25 million increase for the compensation of employees for this year and another R50 million next year. These increases are far out of touch with the economic realities of the country and salary increases elsewhere.