Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier, joined Benito Vergotine in studio on The Honest Truth.

Listen to the conversation here: We are getting things done in the Western Cape

Today we tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) and the 2019 Adjusted Estimates of Provincial Revenue and Expenditure in the Western Cape provincial parliament.

We expect to spend approximately R72.8 billion in 2020/21, R77.3 billion in 2021/22 and R81.7 billion in 2022/23, or a total of R231.9 billion over the medium term in the Western Cape.

We will spend R1.3 billion to train and deploy one thousand law enforcement officers, to fight crime, especially violent crime, in the Western Cape.

We will do so by:

• allocating R130 million in the adjustments budget for 2019/20; and
• allocating R417 million in 2020/21, R350 million in 2021/22 and R400 million in 2022/23.

In addition, we will invest in initiatives to prevent gender-based violence and create opportunities for women and children in the Western Cape. This includes:

• an additional R59.7 million to employ social workers in areas where there is a high prevalence of gender-based violence, substance abuse and issues affecting children in the Western Cape.
• an additional R17 million to continue to support efforts to deal with drivers of HIV, TB and STIs, and gender-based violence in the Western Cape.
• an additional R31.5 million to improve access to sanitary dignity for young women so they can stay in school and get the education they deserve in the Western Cape.

Furthermore, we have proposed adjustments to the 2019 budget to support new provincial priorities, providing for:

• an allocation of R311.4 million for infrastructure-related expenditure and an allocation of R170.6 million for information technology-related expenditure; and
• an allocation of R50 million in emergency funding, made in term of section 25 of the Public Finance Management Act, for fodder support on drought stricken farms in the Western Cape.

While we have done more than any other province over the past ten years to promote economic growth and to create jobs in the Western Cape, we face severe economic challenges as a result a weaker global and national economic outlook.

However, the biggest risk to the provincial economic outlook is the national government in South Africa who continue to mismanage the economy, mismanage our public finances and mismanage our state-owned enterprises.

We now face large budget cuts which risk wiping out service delivery in provinces across South Africa, while national government’s inability to make tough decisions leaves us with significant uncertainty as to how the budget cuts will be applied in the Western Cape.

The current constrained economic and fiscal outlook, together with this uncertainty, means it is more important than ever that we ensure the efficient, effective and sustainable management of fiscal resources in the Western Cape.

We are committed, even in this challenging time, where many people have lost hope, or have lost trust in government, to “actually get things done” in the Western Cape.

We will work hard to ensure the efficient, effective and sustainable management of our public finances to ensure that people are safe, that people have jobs and that people have opportunities in the Western Cape.