By Thomas Thale
JOHANNESBURG'S overcrowded township of Alexandra is to get a R168-million boost from the province for its ongoing renewal project.
This was announced by Paul Mashatile, the Gauteng MEC of finance and economic affairs, during his budget speech in Johannesburg on Thursday, 3 March 2005.
The impoverished township is one of eight urban nodes identified by President Thabo Mbeki for economic and social development. The Alexandra Renewal Project is expected to take some seven years to complete at a cost of R1,3-billion.
And the Gautrain, the planned rail link between Johannesburg and Tshwane, will get R900-million to kickstart the project.
Mashatile also announced a massive increase in social spending, with education, health and social development getting a large chunk of the R33,4-billion budget. Gauteng accounts for 33 percent of South Africa's gross domestic product and its economy grew by just over 5 percent last year.
These social services would get 81 percent of the budget, signaling the provincial government's commitment to improving the quality of life of its population. Mashatile added that the budget underscored the importance the provincial government attached to economic and social development.
The biggest allocation went to education, which received R10,3-billion, a significant increase on the R10,027-billion it was given in the last financial year. This money would be used to provide extra classrooms, improve teacher salaries and provide computers at all public schools in Gauteng under the Gauteng Online programme.
Health got the next biggest slice with an allocation of R9,2-billion. The money would go towards improving hospital management; construction, maintenance and revitalisation of public health facilities; dealing with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis; consolidating primary health care services; and implementing an effective HIV/Aids prevention campaign and comprehensive HIV/Aids care and treatment programme, Mashatile said.
Social development was given R7,54-billion to fund increases in social grants which come into effect on 1 April. These increases, said Mashatile, would go some way towards reducing poverty in the province.
The department of community safety would get R182-million to combat crime and enforce traffic law, while an amount of R107-million would be used to support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to develop their integrated development plans, and to monitor and support local government to ensure its transformation and strengthen its capacity to function smoothly.
Finance and economic affairs received R1,2-billion to stimulate economic activity and attract foreign direct investment in the province; R1,6-billion would go towards housing, said the MEC.
Good news for commuters is that Mashatile provided R1,4-billion for the department of public transport, roads and works to provide accessible, affordable, reliable, integrated and environmentally sustainable public transport.
With the 2010 Soccer World Cup in mind, Mashatile allocated the department of sports, recreation, arts and culture R148-million, plus an extra R10-million "to start with plans for the [world cup]. More resources will be allocated once the business plan is finalised."
Turning to capital expenditure, Mashatile said for the 2005/06 financial year, this stood at R4,1-billion. The money would be used mainly for projects that would stimulate economic growth. The Gautrain project would receive R900-million; R250-million would go to the Growth and Development Strategy; R168-million to the Alexandra Renewal Project; R100-million to Gauteng Online; R48-million to upgrade information technology infrastructure; and R20-million for road safety projects.
Mashatile reaffirmed the provincial government's goal of increasing economic growth to 8 percent by 2014.
Other 2014 targets he restated are as follows:
- to reduce the unemployment rate by half;
- to double the labour absorption rate and create about 800 000 jobs;
- to increase the human resource capital of skilled people by providing focused skills development and training to about 100 000 people;
- to provide measurable support to at least 30 000 small, medium and micro enterprises to ensure that 80 percent of procurement spend is done through broad-based black economic empowerment companies; and
- to establish twining agreements and partnerships with counties in Africa in the context of the New Partnership for Africa's Development
Mashatile said the provincial budget was driven by the imperatives of faster economic growth, poverty alleviation and "fostering healthy, skilled and productive people".
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