DA rejects NW adjustment budget that earmarks R11 million for exit gratuity of former Members
19 November 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West rejects the adjustment budget that was delivered today at the North West Provincial Legislature by MEC for Department of Finance, MotlalepulaRosho.
The fact that R11 million has been earmarked for an exit gratuity for former Members of the Provincial Legislature, along with a whopping R4 million to address the compensation disparity, is outrageous and an insult to the thousands of people who do not have access to the most basic services.
It is alarming that the Provincial Legislature, that is not a service delivery institution, is awarded such a large sum when not even one cent has been allocated to alleviate the excruciating drought that continue to threaten food security.
Premier Mokgoro’s concerns about gender-based violence found no expression in this adjustment budget, as no funds have been allocated to community safety.
In order to address community safety challenges in the Western Cape, DA Premier, Alan Winde, recently announced a R1 billion safety strategy which will fund the training of 3000 new law enforcement officers.
The millions of Rands in rollovers allocated to Departments of Social Development, Education, Community Safety and Transport Management, Arts and Culture and others are merely a smokescreen to cover under expenditure, again demonstrating the lack of political will to address non-compliance that exist within this provincial government.
At the rate that State-Owned Entities (SOE) are failing this province, it is shocking that R56 million is allocated to North West Transport Investments (NTI) in a bid to address the challenges relating to South African Revenue Services (SARS) and third-party payments.
It is simply unfathomable that more funds will be spent on an entity that received a disclaimer from the Auditor-General and have not shown any profits for the past three financial years. Instead of dropping more money into this endless pit, the root causes of poor performance and consequence management measures should be prioritised.
From this adjustment budget, it is clear that no significant changes will be forthcoming, again failing the people of North West.
This province needs a government that prioritises food security, access to basic services and economic development.
Where the DA governs, the needs of the people are prioritised and therefore wasteful expenditure is cut down.
Issued by Freddy Sonakile, DA North West Chief Whip, 19 November 2019
