The North West Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho has tabled the Adjustment Budget for the 2023/24 financial year, with an adjustment of R1 859 510.
The MEC said the current financial constraints compelled the government to reassess its spending priorities and eliminate inefficiencies.
“In these challenging times, cost containment becomes a necessary intervention, not because it is our desire, but because it is the responsible path forward.
“Resources need to be directed where they are needed most without compromising the well-being of our people and jeopardizing our ability to deliver on our commitments to the citizens of the North West,” said Rosho who was speaking at the Provincial Legislature in Mahikeng.
Rosho highlighted 10 municipalities in the province, have applied for Eskom’s Municipal Debt Relief package intended to improve the utility’s balance sheet and facilitate the proposal for Eskom to write-off municipal debt.
The MEC expressed happiness that there has been a remarkable improvement in audit outcomes for the year ended 31 March 2023.
“Ten departments received unqualified audit opinions as compared to eight in the previous financial year. The audit outcome of public entities also improved from seven unqualified opinions in the previous financial year to eight. It is also important to note that there were no disclaimers of opinion for both departments and entities for the year ended 31 March 2023,” explained Rosho.
The MEC said the main reason that prevents departments from obtaining clean audits is the inability to prevent and deal with irregular expenditure that continues to be incurred.
Rosho explained that the adjustment budget seeks to address the ever-evolving needs and challenges facing the people of the province.
“The North West Provincial Fiscal Framework for the 2023/24 financial year has been adjusted upwards by R1.860 billion from R50.856 billion to R52.716 billion,” said Rosho.
She allocated R1.193 billion for the Departments of Health and Education to address the impact of the wage agreement with the rest of the departments forced to absorb the carry-through costs and reprioritise within their existing baselines.
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development conditional grants reduced by R22.041 million and the approved rollovers amounts to R28.125 million.
Department of Education’s conditional grant rollovers amounting to R151.217 million have been approved and the reduction on conditional grants amounts to R169.331 million, primarily affecting the Education Infrastructure Grant and the Early Childhood Development Grant.
The conditional grant reductions in the Department of Health amount to R106.922 million on the District Health Programme Grant and the Health Facility Revitalization Grant.
There were other minimal changes to some departments, like those of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation; Community Safety and Transport Management; Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism; Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Social Development.
The Office of the Premier was also not spared, as its budget was reduced by R11 million from the R482.201 million to R471.201 million.
The Provincial Legislature’s budget was adjusted upwards from R503.392 million to R541.491 million, an increase of R38.099 million attributed to the upwards adjustment on their own revenue.
The 2023/24 Adjustment Allocations Per Department:
