Minister Wenger tables R340 million Provincial Treasury Budget to govern for growth

30 March 2023

Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, tabled the 2023/24 budget for Vote 3, Provincial Treasury, in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament yesterday.

Opening her address, Minister Wenger said: “At the very heart of our mission to secure a better future for the people of this province, is the Provincial Treasury. Treasury acts as a critical driver of good governance and works to continuously improve on processes and systems which underpin maximum impact on the ground for every cent of public money spent.”

To deliver bang for buck and to ensure that residents continue to receive the services they rely on to live a life that they value, the Provincial Treasury continues to strengthen strategic, evidence-based public financial management practices.

In pursuit of these objectives, the main budget for Provincial Treasury for the 2023/24 financial year amounts to a total of R340.67 million, to deliver on:  

-Integrated Provincial Governance; 

-Effective Local Governance;

-Strategic Supply Chain Management; and 

-Efficient Infrastructure Investment.

Integrated Provincial Governance

“During the 2023/24 financial year, PT will focus on unlocking the inherent value of good governance systems across departments, public entities, and municipalities through strengthening integrated service delivery and governance transformation to achieve inclusive growth.” said Minister Wenger.

In the coming year, the Provincial Treasury will move beyond ensuring compliance towards becoming an enabler and a reliable partner driving service delivery improvement across the province.

A key project to manage the fiscal framework for the province given the uncertainties in the fiscal outlook, the energy crisis, global instability, and inflation, is the Fiscal Futures project which allows the Western Cape Government to anticipate and accommodate future spending pressures and risks.

To continue this vital work, R1.42 million is allocated in the 2023/24 financial year and R964 000 in the 2024/25 financial year.

Secondly and complementary to the fiscal futures work, is the strengthening of the partnership with the World Bank Group which ensures that the province’s technical capacity in project preparation and managing the Public Private Partnership process is enhanced.

Effective Local Governance

In 2023/24 to support municipalities improve their financial management capabilities, to develop human capacity and to provide financial aid to improve overall financial governance within municipalities, the Provincial Treasury will allocate R55.14 million over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) through the Financial Management Capability Grant.

The Grant Framework allows Provincial Treasury to prioritise projects that, support long-term economic growth; have a higher likelihood of successful implementation; provide value for money; and includes co-funding from the municipality.  

The Municipal Economic Review and Outlook (MERO) and the Provincial Economic Review and Outlook (PERO), compiled each year, forms the basis of our data-driven decision-making processes, including municipal planning and budgeting, integrated development plans, as well as local economic development strategies.

To continue to provide the very best and most credible data to inform decisions, R803 000 will be allocated to the collation of the PERO and R1.31 million to the MERO in 2023/24.

Strategic Supply Chain Management

Speaking on Strategic Supply Chain Management (SCM), Minister Wenger said: “Supply Chain Management is a critical lever for government to procure goods and services, including infrastructure, on the best possible terms to fulfil government’s mandate of delivering a better future for our residents. It also has a secondary function to promote broader social, economic, and environmental outcomes. Public procurement is therefore an important lever to improve the impact of public expenditure.”

To drive procurement efficiencies and to continue to embed good governance, the Provincial Treasury has rolled out its in-house developed e-Procurement Solution (ePS) in a phased-in process.

In the 2023/24 financial year, this key project will be allocated R6.82 million to further drive ease of doing business with the Western Cape Government.

To further improve procurement support assistance to provincial departments, entities, municipalities and suppliers through an integrated helpdesk, the Procurement Client Centre, which is at the forefront of reducing red tape for businesses, especially small businesses who are interested in becoming Western Cape Government suppliers, will be allocated R5.73 million in 2023/24.

Efficient Infrastructure Investment

“Efficient infrastructure investment is a strategically important area for the province, as it is fundamental to the growth for jobs agenda with its cross-cutting impact on all the strategic priorities of government.” said Minister Wenger.

The establishment of the new Department of Infrastructure is driving a revolution in infrastructure delivery in the province and PT will focus on the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) pipeline as we move the infrastructure investment approach from policy and strategy, forward to delivery.

Over 2023/24, R2.95 million will be allocated to appoint a pool of suitably qualified experts to undertake research and provide advisory services to identify, attract, secure, and retain alternative funding support for the roll-out of public sector social and economic infrastructure initiatives in the Western Cape, which include:

Infrastructure Delivery Management System Pipeline;

Monitoring and reporting on the provincial infrastructure pipeline; and

Project preparation support.

Key technological innovations

Speaking on the impressive steps the provincial treasury is taking to embrace technology and innovation, Minister Wenger said: “I am very pleased to confirm that the Treasury is accelerating the adoption of new digital technologies to drive efficiencies and to expand the transparency of public financial management. Ultimately, digital transformation will enable the PT to maximise the value of the extensive data it currently manages, particularly through the alignment of existing data sets to support decision making and oversight. This will require not only the development of systems, but also of the skills sets of PT officials.”

First, the Provincial Treasury Data Centre, which is allocated R10.0 million over the 2023 MTEF, will provide the information platform to foster compliant and standardised reporting for management and oversight, using new technologies to enable data cleansing, aggregation, analysis, and reporting.

Second, the customer relationship management tool, which is allocated R9.0 million over the 2023 MTEF, will streamline process for all client interactions, modernize the user interfaces, and enhance reporting and auditing of systematic procedures.

Third, the Evergreening Legacy Systems initiative, which is allocated R15.0 million over the 2023 MTEF, will drastically improve access to operational reports, reduce the cost of maintaining many systems, and facilitate collaboration with departmental and other stakeholders.

Concluding her speech, Minister Wenger said: “This hard work and dedication shown by the Provincial Treasury team is one of the key reasons why the Western Cape is the best run province in the country. And the few programmes and initiatives I have mentioned today are but a sample of the continuous drive by the treasury to do even more, to go even further and to deliver the very best services to our citizens.”

Issued by Mireille Wenger, Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, 30 March 2023