A total of R182.35 billion has been earmarked for welfare, health and wellness in the Western Cape over the next year.
This is according to Mireille Wenger, the MEC for Finance and Economic Opportunites for the province. She announced this during the 2024 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF).
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A total of R225.29 billion has been allocated for the 2024/25 budget, IOL reports.
‘Of the total R255.29 billion provincial budget, a full two-thirds (75.4%), or R192.21 billion, is being spent to champion the needs of the poor and most vulnerable residents in the province, which include allocations for primary healthcare, home and community-based care, mental health services, learner transport, the school nutrition programme, low-cost housing, food gardens in communities and schools, child and youth care centres, and poverty alleviation programmes,’ she noted.
‘To continue to build a better future, we will invest in and maintain vital infrastructure to support the growth of our businesses, our economy, and our people.’
‘This is why we will invest in fixed assets, catalytic, and agricultural infrastructure over the 2024 MTEF, amounting to a total of R32.12 billion.’
The Western Cape allocated its 2024 MTEF to the following areas:
- R182.35 billion for well-being, including health and wellness, education and social services
- R45.35 billion for growing the economy and creating employment opportunities
- R21.87 billion on innovation, culture and governance to improve service delivery
- R5.08 billion on safety to build on existing interventions
- An additional 190.36 million over the 2024 MTEF
Wenger added that the Western Cape’s budget was cut by R6.36 billion due to fiscal consolidation. ‘Conditional grants allocated by the national government to provinces for specific programmes have also been slashed by a net reduction of R1.135bn over the MTEF.’
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‘Despite the challenges, we are determined to move forward. We must work smarter, strategically plan, and implement solutions because we must keep building a Western Cape that works for all.’
‘Which is why our approach to the 2024/25 budget focused first on protecting basic service delivery outcomes and supporting departments to absorb the impact of baseline reductions and the wage bill.’
However, the opposition party’s finance and economic opportunities spokesperson, Nomi Nkondlo, says it is not impressed with the latest budget.
‘There’s a newfound love by the DA to talk about the budget for the poor – something we have been asking for since 2019.’
‘We have been asking them to deliver a strategy about inequality and poverty, and they have ignored those calls, and only now do they talk about a budget that is inclusive; this is another stance they use for the elections.’
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Picture: Pieter van Noorden / Unsplash
