DA opposes KZN’s R122 billion Budget for 2018/19

16 May 2018

The Democratic Alliance in the KZN Legislature has today opposed the province’s R122 billion Budget for 2018/19.

This is an unprecedented move in more than a decade. It signals the desperate financial situation facing provincial departments and ultimately the people of the province who rely on government services.

Today’s budget represents a perfect storm – a combination of circumstances which have come together to provide a budget of excuses and failures from an ANC-led provincial government that does not care.

With a R476 million cut to the equitable share, R780 million in conditional grants, R400 million for the unfunded iZinduna mandate and a 1% VAT increase, the province will have R2 billion left. This means fewer jobs, less service delivery and increased poverty levels.

Today’s opposition by the DA is fundamentally not about the money that is being voted. It is about this ANC-government’s failure to provide sufficient resources to meet the needs of the people.

We as the DA believe that the state should have the capacity to provide for the people of KZN but that ANC-maladministration, corruption, bad appointments and poor decisions have combined to rob KZN of potentially billions of rands.

A DA-led KZN budget would provide the resources for economic growth, job-creating infrastructure, support for the Tourism industry and the socio-economic upliftment of the people of our province.

Today, the ball is in KZN Premier Willies Mchunu’s court. The DA expects him to step up and fight for more money from national treasury so that our people and our province do not suffer any further.

Issued by Francois Rodgers, Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature / DA KZN Spokesperson on Finance, 16 May 2018