WEDNESDAY, 8.30AM
TWO provincial governments are in dire financial straits, having discovered that they will need massive central government funding to avoid disaster.
Mpumalanga legislative committee chairman will attend an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss ways to cope with an R900 million deficit. The current budget of R5 billion already represents a cutback of 8,5% on last year, and is so tight, according to officials, that not a single road, school or clinic can be built this year. More than 92% of the budget goes to recurrent expenses such as salaries.
In Northern province, the legislature was told on Tuesday that no additional funds were expected from central government to cover such areas as inadequate road infrastructures, lack of textbooks for schools, and insufficient resources to administer exams adequately. the private sector was becoming increasingly angry about unpaid bills for services to provincial departments.