South Africa’s Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, says R5,9-billion has been spent on rural upliftment nodes and R4,2-billion on their urban counterparts in the past financial year.
Speaking at a media briefing of social sector cluster ministers on Tuesday, Mufamadi said unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment are the “key challenges facing policy design and implementation” by the government.
The upliftment involves the provision of housing, free basic service delivery — including water, sanitation and electricity — as well as food security and land restitution.
“From a budgeting point of view, we have been facing challenges. We have drafted for discussion and finalisation a financing protocol relating to the 21 rural and urban nodes. This will be finalised within two months,” said Mufamadi.
The protocol is meant to improve the effective and coordinated financing of these programmes by the three spheres of the government.
The government intervention to uplift the poor is driven through the Integrated Sustainable Development Programme, the Expanded Public Works Programme and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
Mufamadi said the government has allocated R45-billion over the next five years for municipal and provincial infrastructure grants of which one-third — R15-billion — will go towards the Expanded Public Works Programme to assist with the creation of one million job opportunities. — I-Net Bridge