About 80% of Gauteng’s budget of R33,5-billion is earmarked for social services, the province’s finance minister, Paul Mashatile, said on Thursday.
”Approximately 81% of our budget will be allocated to social services; namely health, education and social development,” Mashatile said in a speech prepared for delivery as he tabled his budget in Johannesburg.
”This will allow us to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of the poorest in our province.”
The budget estimates revenue at R33,5-billion and expenditure at R33,4-billion for the 2005/06 financial year.
The health budget has increased by 4% from last year to R9,2-billion.
The money will be used to improve the management of hospitals, to treat communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, to consolidate primary health-care services and to implement an HIV/Aids prevention campaign and a comprehensive HIV/Aids treatment programme.
The social development budget — which has increased by 19% from R6,3-billion in 2004/05 to R7,5-billion — will help fund social-security grants payments.
The budget allocation for education has increased by 3% from R10-billion in 2004 to R10,3-billion.
This is in an effort to promote literacy and numeracy, improve learning materials, roll out the education management information system to improve public-sector management, build and maintain schools and increase early childhood development services.
The budget is a step towards achieving economic growth of 8% and halving unemployment by 2014, Mashatile said.
These goals are part of the province’s growth and development strategy (GDS), unveiled in November 2004, which set out socio-economic development targets Gauteng has to reach by 2014.
”These proposed 10-year targets will be achieved incrementally, starting this year.”
Mashatile said the budget will try to address discrepancies in Gauteng, which shows impressive economic growth while battling with high levels of poverty and unemployment and a lack of infrastructure.
”We continue to have unacceptably high levels of our people remaining trapped in poverty, which is exacerbated by issues inclusive of ongoing unemployment, lack of jobs, lack of infrastructure development and imbalanced foreign and direct investments,” Mashatile said.
This is in contrast to Gauteng’s ”noteworthy achievements and levels of economic growth”, he said.
Mashatile said unemployment is estimated at 28%. Unemployment among women is 33,7%, and 23,6% of men are unemployed.
However, the province is the highest contributor to South Africa’s economy, accounting for 33% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
”It is the largest sub-Saharan economy, accounting for about 10% of Africa’s GDP,” Mashatile said.
Gauteng’s economy has grown by 3,7% yearly in the past five years. Last year, it increased to a growth rate of more than 5%.
Tertiary industries contributed 60,8% to Gauteng’s gross geographic product, making them the largest contributor. Secondary industries were the second-largest contributor at 26,3%, Mashatile said.
Primary industries slowed by an annual average of 3,3% between 1995 and 2003.
”This is due to the structural changes of the South African economy generally and Gauteng in particular,” the provincial minister said.
With increased confidence in the South African economy, foreign direct investment in the province grew to R1,5-billion in 2003 from R450-million in 2001.
The number of tourists grew by 3,1-million in 2004, he said. Money in the budget has been allocated to position Gauteng as a major tourist attraction in Africa and an attractive destination for international film production, he said. — Sapa