VOTE 3 Budget Speech

Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker

Honourable Premier and Cabinet Colleagues

Honourable Leader of the Opposition

Honourable Members of the Western Cape Legislature

Colleagues

Citizens of the Western Cape

Ladies and Gentlemen

Madam Speaker, the vision of Provincial Treasury is good financial governance.

Provincial Treasury is allocated a budget of R357.3 million for the 2019/20 financial year.

This represents a 17.42% increase over the 2018/2019 revised adjusted estimates budget.

Good governance delivers in the Western Cape.

This approach has set the Western Cape Province apart from the rest of South Africa.

Our good governance record is proof of it.

The Provincial Treasury will therefore continue to drive good financial governance in the Province.

A Good Governance Grant of R30 million is introduced in 2019/20 to reward performing municipalities.

The objective is to embed a culture of adherence to financial good governance practices and optimal performance within the local government sector.

The Grant will incentivise and support excellence in good financial governance practices and optimal performance culminating in improved service delivery and public value creation.

R15 million is allocated over the 2019 MTEF to increase the technical capacity within Provincial Treasury’s Infrastructure Unit for Infrastructure Development.

The aim is to give effect to this Government’s infrastructure led growth strategy.

Speaker, as highlighted during my main Budget Address, the Western Cape Government’s Fiscal strategy has enabled the Province to create a long term financing plan to support an infrastructure led growth strategy resulting in an additional investment of R6.8 billion over the ten-year period up to 2028/29.

Given that the Province plans to spend in excess of R28.6 billion on infrastructure over the 2019 MTEF the Provincial Treasury’s Infrastructure Development Unit will play a pivotal role in ensuring that this Government’s objectives are achieved.

Speaker, the 2019/20 departmental budget is allocated as follows:

Administration is allocated an amount of R58.8 million to provide strategic direction and to provide quality financial and other support services.

Speaker, the continuous provision for the Provincial Financial Capacity Building programme is aimed at improving financial skills within the public sector by creating a pool of talent from which the Provincial Treasury, other provincial departments and municipalities can recruit from.

Madam Speaker, you will recall that when I tabled the Main Budget on 5 Match 2019, I highlighted that the Main Budget was about the youth.

Likewise, Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Treasury Budget gives due consideration to the youth who will benefit from external bursaries to the value of R2.7 million.

The Provincial Treasury’s Bursary Programme have appointed 124 bursary graduate interns since 2012.

Seven interns are currently permanently appointed in the Provincial Treasury; one intern has been permanently appointed at Mossel Bay Municipality; and 22 have been appointed in other departments.

In the 2019/2020 a further 12 Pay interns will commence duty on 1 April 2019 and 11 new graduates, of which 10 have already commenced their internships on 1 March 2019.

Under the auspices of the Office of the Provincial Accountant-General, the Provincial Treasury launched the Chartered Accountants Academy in 2015.

The goal of the Academy was to contribute to the long term pipeline of finance professionals in the public service.

As part of its pilot intake in the province, the CAA accepted six trainees in 2016, all of whom met the core requirements of their training contract and have successfully concluded their articles in February 2019.

Five of the six have since taken up full time employment: three in the public sector and two in the private sector.

We are pleased that the academy has produced its first Chartered Accountant.

 His name is Kabelo Mafiri and he has since taken up full time employment in our public entity, Cape Nature.

Keblo Mafiri joins us in the gallery today.

A further 11 trainees are currently in the system and we hope to increase the numbers over time.

The Provincial Treasury has concluded an evaluation of the Academy, and the evaluation confirms that the Academy has been appropriately designed and is effective in terms of achieving its mandate.

This also creates a sound basis for institutionalising this very important initiative.

The Provincial Treasury is also investigating the piloting of a partnership with municipalities to extend the footprint of the Academy.

Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Treasury’s commitment to the youth is not only limited to those who are already graduates.

 The Nedbank, Provincial Treasury and Western Cape Education Department Essay Writing Competition for Grade 11 Learners was introduced in 2008/9 and has since attracted entries from across the Province.

The aim of the Essay Writing Competition is to provide learners interested in studying Economics, Accounting and Mathematics the opportunity to access bursaries in the fields of commerce and in doing so address the scarcity of skills in these sectors.

The Competition offers Grade 11 learners in the province, who take a combination of Economics, Mathematics and Accounting as subjects, the opportunity of obtaining bursaries to further their studies in these fields at an accredited university.

Between 12 and 15 bursaries, as well as cash prizes as financial assistance during their Grade 12 year, are awarded to learners who intend obtaining a degree in the specified fields.

A total number of 108 bursaries (74 females and 34 males) have been awarded since the inception of the competition.

We would like to thank and acknowledge those who have collaborated with us to ensure the success of these initiatives.

These capacity building initiatives amongst others, demonstrates our continued commitment towards building a capable state

Honourable Speaker, in line with the principle of sustainability, Sustainable Resource Management is allocated an amount of R166.3 million.

This is to ensure the effective management of provincial and municipal budgets. This includes the following:

• Further support to the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board (WCGRB) mainly due to the loss of the Limited Pay-out Machine (LPM) operator fees and the provision for a once-off payment which relates to the repayment of Limited Payout Machines Operator Fees of R37 million
• Priority funding allocations are ring-fenced for:

• Improving financial governance – R22.8 million is set aside for the Financial Management Support Grant;
• R4.8 million is ring-fenced for Municipal interventions to assist in strengthening support interventions; and
• Capacity Infrastructure support in delivering infrastructure gets R5m.

Speaker, Asset Management is allocated an amount of R65.7 million.

This is to provide policy direction and to facilitate and enforce the management of provincial financial systems, supply chain and moveable asset management within the provincial and municipal spheres. 

Key areas of delivery are the following:

• Improving procurement policy planning to support departments and municipalities to promote budget planning, efficiency in spending, strategic sourcing and provide structured support programmes to improve supply chain management governance
• Supporting the development and implementation of an economic procurement policy in conjunction with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Department of the Premier for the Province that speaks to SMME development through the utilisation of procurement as a lever

Financial Governance is allocated an amount of R66.4 million.

The purpose is to promote accountability and financial governance in departments, entities and municipalities in the Western Cape.

The budget makes provision for the following:

• Continuous provision for the Chartered Accountant Academy aimed at creating a pipeline of public sector accounting professionals
• Priority funding allocations that are ring-fenced for:

• Capacity building support- Financial Management Capacity Grant (R11.39 million);
• As already mentioned, Honourable Speaker, to reward/incentivise municipalities for meeting or exceeding good governance performance criteria. A Financial Good Governance Grant of R10 million will be implemented in this financial year.

Deputy Speaker in order to achieve its planned objectives the Provincial Treasury has allocated its 2018/19 departmental budget R357.3 million as follows:

Programme 1 – R58,8 million

Programme 2 - R166,3 million

Programme 3 - R65,7 million and

Programme 4 – R66,4 million.

I thank you.

Media Enquiries: 

Daniel Johnson
Media Liaison Officer/Spokesperson to Dr Ivan Meyer Minister of Finance
Cell: 079 990 4231
E-mail: daniel.johnson@westerncape.gov.za