A missed opportunity to reject Gauteng health budget
4 August 2024
Last week, the Gauteng Health Department's 2024/25 budget vote was approved, missing a crucial opportunity to push for negotiations with opposition parties for necessary changes.
Rejecting the budget would not have halted operations. According to the Public Finance Management Act, 45% of the previous year's budget can be spent until the end of July, with an additional 10% each month thereafter. Therefore, the department would only face a budget shortfall by the end of this year.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) rejected the budget because nothing has changed in the top management to ensure it will be spent efficiently and effectively, without any corruption.
Simply put, the crooks are still in charge. They want to keep their multiple scams going, and to protect the looters. If there was another Babita Deokaran in the Department, they would silence her.