South Africa’s provinces spent 95% of their Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant budgets, aimed at improving and repairing roads, during the 2013/14 financial year, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has revealed.

In a written reply to a question posed by the Democratic Alliance in Parliament, Peters noted that the country’s nine provinces spent R8.28-billion during this period, while R461.7-million was not spent.

KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the North West and the Western Cape each spent 100% of their allocated budgets for the year, which amounted to R1.52-billion, R1.49-billion, R661.9-million and R518.16-million respectively.

The Eastern Cape spent 97% of its R1.29-billion budget, while the Northern Cape spent 94% of its R699.48-million allocation.

Gauteng and Limpopo each spent 86% of their respective budgets of R655.25-million and R572.34-million for the 2013/14 year, while the Free State spent only 84% of its R1.33-billion budget.