ANC says DA budget fails poor and rural people
28 February 2017
The claims of serving the poor by the Western Cape provincial government rings hollow every year with the budget as it fails to show how the poor will benefit from the provinces’ own revenue – especially in rural areas where the needs are most.
The national government under the ANC contributes more than R56 billion to the Western Cape in the upcoming financial year. This is about R5 billion more than the previous year. It includes R11,6 billion conditional grants for projects national government prescribes, endorses or sponsors. Many are ring-fenced for specific programmes.
On top of these contributions the DA-led provincial government contributes less than R5 billion from own revenue and receipts.
Although the DA has to still table its budget for 2017/18, it is clear from the national budget and the Division of Revenue Bill (Dora) that the province is almost entirely dependent on contributions by the national government.
ANC Western Cape finance spokesperson Carol Beerwinkel says: "The DA’s attitude and pronouncements do not stem the growing urbanisation in the province or uplift the lives of the rural poor in a real way. There needs to be tangible plans and specific programmes beyond all the old tricks and talk about assisting the poor.
“The ANC says there are vast provisions for the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) across various departments through dedicated conditional grants for job creation and poverty relieve that will benefit poor people. The ANC welcomes this aid from the national government and increased allocation of these funds. The ANC will closely watch the DA’s budget, what is not spent or ploughed back into the provincial economy.
“The DA must now come to the party and show us tangibly how it will spend money from its own revenue and hidden reserves or rollovers to benefit the poor and especially township and rural economies. The DA must spend more an innovatively of its secret stashes and slush funds. It does not fill vital vacancies which impedes on service delivery and artificially claim the unspent money as so-called savings.”
Besides more money for housing provision (residential units and serviced sites, better located land closer to economic opportunities and specifically for the transfer of title deeds to identified beneficiaries in towns like Van Rhynsdorp, Clanwilliam, Citrusdal and Beaufort West); community safety gets more and also for the employment of more social workers… the budget also allocates extra for education infrastructure, the fight against HIV and Aids, assistance to children with acute learning disabilities, R19 million specific help to Early Childhood Development (ECD) maths and science expansion for numeracy improvement and school nutrition. TVET colleges will also be supported stronger.
On the health front R30 million is allocated for professional training, tertiary hospitals (Tygerberg, Red Cross Children and Groote Schuur) and the treatment of TB – a terrible disease affecting many poor. More is also available for the National Health Insurance (NHI) development.
The maintenance of roads gets R110 million more as well as more for public transport operations. The Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme (Casp), Letsima and land care get more money.
Cultural affairs and sport also gets more. Library services is up by R7 million and the MOD centres for afterschool activities will also benefit more.
Beerwinkel added: “The ANC also wants to see more radical economic reform with real market structural intervention, accelerated development for various industries, including public transport, urban entrepreneurs, industrial and rural development. Local government also gets about R4,3 billion additional to its own income through national government allocations. The ANC also wants to see a drastic limitation to roll overs, underspending, money not spent and hiding money in the Western Cape.”
Issued by Cobus Grobler on behalf of the ANC, 28 February 2017
