Staff Reporter
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Free State has blamed the over R11 billion cut in the equitable share to the province on poor implementation and lack of political will to ensure projects are run efficiently.
Member of the Provincial Legislature Ishmael Mahlomola Majake told The Free Stater soon after the delivery of the provincial budget at Gariep Dam on Tuesday that the reduction in the equitable share comes as a result of the failure by the province to utilise allocated funds on key programmes.
“The budget reflects what we have always been advocating as the EFF . . . the departments are not performing well,” said Majake.
“As you can see, there is a lot of roll-over. The province is losing about R12 billion in the next MTEF (Medium-Term Expenditure Framework) three-year cycle. It means we are losing about R4 billion every year,” added.
Finance MEC Gadija Brown announced in her provincial budget speech that the Free State will lose R11.137 billion in the equitable share over the next three years following several adjustments.
She said the budget cuts are mainly driven by reductions of R7.066 billion and R4.528 billion which relate to fiscal consolidation and wage freeze, respectively.
The MEC said a further reduction of R197 million relates to data updates on the provincial equitable share formula.
Brown bemoaned the reductions saying they are immense for the province and require concerted efforts in ensuring that the resources are allocated to key provincial priorities.
The province also experienced a reduction of R800 million on its conditional grants, which includes a budget cut of R382 million on the compensation of employees that are paid through the grants.
But Majake felt a lot of money has been returned to the National Treasury in the past after the province failed to utilise it.
“We feel this failure to utilise allocated funds is mainly because the provincial government does not have the requisite skills to implement key projects,” he said.
“We also feel there is a lack of political will to ensure these projects are implemented.
“As the EFF we will continue talking and putting pressure to ensure more work is done for our people.”
The EFF representative however acknowledged the attention given to the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) in the provincial budget saying it’s important given the worsening state of the scourge.
“We will closely monitor how the funds will be used. It’s a very important programme,” he said.
“GBV is affecting all our communities and it should be taken seriously.”