Special Adjustment Budget – A Budget to Beat Covid-19 in the Western Cape

23 July 2020

We could not have imagined the size and the ferocity of the storm on the horizon when we tabled the main budget in Parliament. 

When the main budget was tabled, we committed to supporting the health department should Covid-19 reach the Western Cape.

We have seen some positive signs that the storm may be subsiding, but while we are hoping for the best, we have to plan for the worst in the Western Cape.

We have a plan, and we are executing that plan, which is why we are tabling “A Budget to Beat Covid-19 in the Western Cape” today in Parliament.

Which supports the immediate health response, humanitarian response and economic response in the fight against Covid-19 in the Western Cape.

We have worked hard to mobilise every cent available, and have allocated R3.05 billion to support the fight against Covid-19 in the Western Cape, which includes:

R1.8 billion to the Department of Health for personal protective equipment, temporary field hospitals, testing and screening, and additional bed capacity;

R400 million to the Department of Transport and Public Works for the hiring of venues and the purchase of services for quarantine and isolation facilities;

R310 million to the Department of Education for personal protective equipment, and the sanitisation of schools;

R84 million for humanitarian relief including inter alia:

- R25.9 million to the Department of Social Development for an emergency food relief programme;

- R18 million to the Department of Education for an emergency school feeding scheme; and

- R17.8 million to the Department of Local Government for an emergency food relief programme;

R27 million to the Department of Local Government for the coordination and implementation of the response to the pandemic in hotspots;

R14 million to the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to support small businesses, workplace safety, and screening passengers at the George Airport; and

R12 million to the Department of Social Development for personal protective equipment and operational support to Old Age Homes and Early Childhood Development Centres across the Western Cape.

Our “Budget to Beat Covid-19 in the Western Cape” is a budget:

that funds field hospitals;

that funds isolation and quarantine facilities;

that funds emergency food relief;

that funds school feeding schemes;

that funds schools opening safely;

that funds businesses opening safely;

and in the end, saves lives, and saves livelihoods, in the Western Cape.

Issued by Francine Higham, Spokesperson for the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, 23 July 2020