R1.5 BILLION UNSPENT BY GAUTENG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
The Gauteng Provincial Government failed to spend R1.5 billion in the 2010/11 financial year.
This is revealed in the Fourth Quarterly Report of the Gauteng Finance Department that covers the period January to March this year.
The spending failures are most severe in Education, Roads and Transport, Health and Social Development, and Infrastructure Development.
The Gauteng Education Department failed to spend R428 million in Early Childhood Development programmes because of delays in the roll out of Grade R and provision of learner teacher support material.
In Public Ordinary School Education, R478 was not spent on property payments and R68 went unspent on training and development.
According to the report, the gross underspending of R855 million in Health Facilities Management "results from a number of capital infrastructure projects that never took off the ground because the department took a decision to undertake those projects on its own instead of utilizing Department of Infrastructure Development as an implementing department for infrastructure projects."
Despite an appalling ambulance service, R181 million went unspent on Emergency Medical Services.
Social Welfare Services suffered as R204 million was held back from NGOs because of "rationing of payments between the merged departments of Health and Social Development."
In Roads and Transport, the public and freight services programme underspent by R404 million mainly due to delays in payment of bus subsidies amounting to R259 million.
The total underspend in all departments would have been much higher than R1.5 billion, but was partly offset by overspending elsewhere, including R615m overspent on compensation of employees in education, and R1.3 billion extra spent on hospitals and clinics.
It's a financial shambles that shows an abysmal lack of planning and controls.
This is why Gauteng has lost R358 million in grants from the national treasury as Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is unconvinced that we can spend what we get.
Service delivery suffers when budgets are not spent.
Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane must intervene to ensure that all available money is spent properly.
Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Caucus Leader, May 23 2011
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