Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal government’s commitment to pay special attention to infrastructure and use it to create jobs and stimulate economic activity has been questioned.
This is after KZN Finance MEC Peggy Nkonyeni delivered the budget this week, pledging billions of rand to fix the province’s crumbling infrastructure which has been seen as an impediment to investment.
Of the R150 billion, R17bn has been spread across the departments for infrastructure.
Nkonyeni said such an allocation illustrated the government’s commitment to use infrastructure spending to stimulate growth and create jobs.
“The budget also provides for capital developments at the Special Economic Zones, as well as the rehabilitation and development of agricultural infrastructure,” said the MEC.
Nkonyeni said the government had in the past delivered on its commitments such as building the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Dr Pixley kaSeme Memorial Hospital and King Shaka Airport.
However, the IFP’s Reverend Musa Zondi described the budget as one that did not give any hope as two-thirds of the allocations went to social sector departments in Education, Health and Social Development, serving mainly salaries.
“Even in those departments, the bulk of the budget goes to salaries, with little provided for the building of new schools. What is equally worrying is that job-creating departments do not have the sort of allocation that we would expect,” said Zondi.
Zondi criticised the R17bn allocation towards infrastructure, describing it as miniscule when compared to the province’s needs.
DA leader Francois Rodgers said the budget confirmed their suspicion that there was no money in the province’s coffers, insisting that while the MEC had outlined the fiscal challenges facing KZN, she failed to provide a solution. He noted how a revised estimate had shown that the province was facing a R4bn budget cut from R154bn to R150bn.
Rodgers also lamented the fact that 85.6% of the provincial budget goes to salaries, leaving very little to address KZN’s ongoing poverty, inequality and service delivery crises.
“Employment prospects for KZN’s people also remain bleak as the government continues to fail in its mandate.”
EFF leader Mongezi Thwala described the budget as a glossy look at a hopeless situation, pointing to infrastructure which, he said, was falling apart across KZN.
“Everywhere you go in this province, there are shacks, the roads are crumbling, government buildings are vandalised. There should be a bold plan to get rid of shacks, but we did not hear one, except improving living conditions in shacks,” said Thwala.
Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business chief executive officer Melanie Veness said there were no surprises in the budget, with social departments getting the bulk of the money. She said the budget was inadequate when compared to the province’s needs, but much could be done with a greater focus.
Sunday Tribune