The MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Venus Blennies-Magage, delivered the provincial budget speech at the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature on Tuesday.
Image: Facebook
THE PROVINCIAL government has allocated R30 million to cover the shortfall owed by Northern Cape departments for municipal rates and taxes over the next three years.
Delivering the provincial budget speech on Tuesday, the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Venus Blennies-Magage, acknowledged that this amount was “hardly adequate”.
“We are committing to stabilise this allocation in the next budget cycle to ensure that the budget for rates and taxes is enough to meet all the obligations,” said Blennies-Magage.
“We are also progressively dealing with the debt owed to municipalities by the province and specifically Sol Plaatje Municipality (SPM). The bulk owed by SPM relates to legacy and historical debt that we are working towards settling. I am also happy to announce that all departments are paying their accounts timeously.”
She added that Provincial Treasury would consider offsetting the equitable share of departments to pay municipalities directly.
"This is not desirable, but when it becomes necessary, we will not hesitate to act," she added.
The MEC said the Department of Roads and Public Works would ensure that current accounts were paid to Sol Plaatje Municipality on time.
She found it intolerable that the province continued to forfeit millions of rand allocated for infrastructure and Municipal Infrastructure Grants, despite being in dire need of maintenance.
“This situation cannot continue, and it must change. The recurrence of unspent Municipal Infrastructure Grants must be prevented, and municipalities must be assisted to generate their own revenue.”
Blennies-Magage stated that the renewal of motor vehicle licences would be taken over by the province from the South African Post Office by 2026.
She said R55.6 million would be directed to support motor vehicle licensing services, including personnel and related operational costs.
“Ensuring safer roads and the effective enforcement of traffic laws requires a visible and well-resourced law enforcement presence.”
She indicated that 16 municipalities in the Northern Cape had been approved for the Eskom municipal debt relief programme designed by National Treasury to assist in settling debts owed to Eskom.
“Out of 257 municipalities across South Africa, 70 were approved for participation in the programme, with the Northern Cape having the most municipalities in the country being selected for this programme. This initiative aims to stabilise Eskom’s balance sheet while allowing for the conditional write-off of qualifying municipal debt, under the oversight of National and Provincial Treasuries.”
She commended Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality for being the first municipality in the Northern Cape to qualify for a one-third Eskom debt write-off, followed by Nama Khoi Local Municipality as the second qualifying local authority.
“As of March 31, 2023, Dawid Kruiper owed Eskom R64.7 million. Following compliance with the programme’s conditions, National Treasury instructed Eskom to write off one-third of this debt - amounting to R21.5 million.”
She stated that R12 million would be made available to the Blended Finance Fund to create jobs and promote the township economy, business incubators, industrial parks and special economic zones, while R9 million was earmarked for the Township and Rural Grant Fund.
“The Northern Cape has a bold yet achievable goal of creating 60,000 jobs by 2029 and lowering the unemployment rate to below 25 percent through a collaboration between government, the private sector, labour unions and communities,” she added.
Total budget for the 2025/26 financial year: R23.5 billion
Department of Health - R6.8 billion
Department of Education - R8, 8 billion
Grade 12 interventions - R250 million
Presidential Youth Employment Intervention - R30.5 million
Department of Social Development - R1 billion
Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture - R445.7 million
Department of Economic Development and Tourism - R18 million
Department of Roads and Public Works - R2.2 billion
Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs - R1 billion
Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Land Reform and Rural Development - R797.1 million
Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison - R77.4 million
Insourcing of security - R55.6 million
Office of the Premier - R313 million
Provincial Treasury - R381 million
Northern Cape Second Adjustment Appropriation Bill 2024 additional allocations:
Office of the Premier - R24.7 million
Department of Roads and Public Works - R10 million to address a shortfall on municipal rates and taxes
Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform - R4.2 million for the Rooibos Factory
Blennies-Magage stated that R50 million was suspended from various departments, mainly due to the slow implementation of capital projects, coupled with slow recruitment processes.
“An amount of R200 million in respect of capital repayment of the DBSA loan is suspended from Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs.”