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The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the provincial government’s commitment to allocate R85 million towards the provincial department of COGTA to service municipal debts in the Free State. This comes as part of the appropriation budget tabled in the Free State Legislature today.

Another positive is the R51 million which was taken away from the Office of the Premier. The DA has long held the view that the Premier’s Office is overfunded given that it does not fulfil a core function in facilitating service delivery. The Premier’s Office has failed dismally in managing student bursaries and other projects which have yielded limited value for money for taxpayers.

Despite these positive steps, the DA objected to the appropriation budget on the basis that there is a R208 million roll-over. This is concerning because the conditional grants were not spent or were underspent and this means that some infrastructure projects could not take place and some services could ultimately not be delivered.

It also appears that there will be R200 million that will be forfeited back to national treasury where the applications for roll-overs was not approved.

Of further concern is that R15 million is going to be reprioritised towards the Department of Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA), which is problematic because this money could have been allocated towards education and health, because DESTEA fails to create a conducive environment in which the economy can thrive. The Free State Development Corporation (FDC) is also not able to fulfil their core mandate and duties towards this.

The DA will ensure that we hold the provincial government to account in their R85 million commitment to service municipal debts. The DA want to see less money given to provincial departments who do not fulfil core service delivery competencies, and more money allocated towards those provincial departments who deliver services to residents.

Issued by Chief Whip of the Official Opposition David van Vuuren