Nelson said the aggregate provincial performance for the first half of the 2017/18 financial year was R18.6 billion representing 47.53 per cent against the main appropriation of R39.1 billion. She added that the expenditure was dominated by spending on Compensation of Employees (CoE) and Transfer Payments.

“Performance on infrastructure and conditional grants by provincial departments is lower than 47.53 percent, with the exception of the departments of Health and Education and Sports Development. The 2017/18 budget of R39.081 billion tabled on the 7^th March 2017 is adjusted with an amount of R808.992 million to R39.890 billion representing an increase of 2.1 per cent.

“An amount of R30 million is converted from the Health Facility Revitalization Component of the Indirect National Health Insurance Grant to the Health Facility Revitalization Grant from conditional grant. This will enable the Health department to complete crucial projects that were constrained by budget pressures,” Nelson said.

She said that the amount of R270.413 million has been approved as rollovers in respect of various conditional grants. Nelson further said conditional grants have been adjusted by R300.413 million, from R7.552 billion to R7.853 billion.

“The EXCO approved the centralization of bursaries in the Office of the Premier. This was done in order to facilitate the Implementation of Kgetsi ya Tsie Bursary and Skills Development Fund in the province as part of Ikatisong School of Governance. An amount of R33.7 million will be re-allocated to the Office of the Premier and this allocation will be carried through over the MTEF,” Nelson said.

She added that the departments will continue to service commitments for all bursary intake prior 2016 academic year. Nelson said the IT function that supports the financial system is moved from the Office of the Premier to Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development.

“The Office of the Premier budget increases by R131.665 million. Through the visionary leadership of Mahumapelo, the fifth administration took a decision to implement programmes and projects that aims to address unemployment and poverty alleviation in the province. For this purpose, an amount of R100 million have been set aside for amongst others VTSD Township Economy, Environmental project and Mining Beneficiation Initiatives. An amount of R33.666 million is reallocated to the department from other departments to finance the bursaries that have been centralized in the office of the Premier.

“An amount of R2 million has been shifted from the Office of the Premier to Finance for the IT function that supports the financial system. Consequently, the budget for the Office of the Premier increases from R648.857 million to R780.522 million,” she added.

Nelson said an amount of R60 million is added to the North West Provincial Legislature’s budget specifically for the infrastructure project. She further said the Provincial Legislature receives R34.4 million in addition to address it’s pressing operational and maintenance costs.

“Furthermore, an amount R3.516 million has been added to the appropriation as a result of the approved unauthorized expenditure of the previous financial years. The budget of the Provincial Legislature therefore increased from R449.484 million to R547.400 million thus enable this arm of the state to carry out its constitutional mandate.

“The Health department receives R30 million for the Health Facility Revitalization Grant for completion of crucial projects that were constrained by budget pressures. Furthermore, an amount of R110 million was added to the baseline to assist the department with the project of mobile clinics and pressures on Medicine, Medical Supplies and Laboratory services,” she said.

Nelson added that an amount of R60 million has been reprioritized within the departmental baseline towards core functions. She said the department’s budget will now amount to R10.600 billion from R10.461 billion.

“The Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs (CATA) department receives a net increase of R33.859 million after discounting R7.116 million made up of a downward revision of the revenue target by R500 thousand and a reduction of R6.616 million on Compensation of Employees (COE), Machinery and Equipment and the bursary allocation.

“CATA received a rollover amount of R10.975 million for Community Library Services Grant. An amount of R10 million is availed for the procurement of vehicles for Traditional Leaders and R20 million for the VTSD SAMA Awards. The budget of this Department has increased from R711.440 million to R745.299 million,” she said.

The Community Safety and Transport Management department’s allocation increased by R94.459 million from R1.984 billion to R2.078 billion. This net increase is a result of a reduction of R9.516 million on COE, Machinery and Equipment and the transfer of bursary funds to the Office of the Premier inclusive of the additional amount of R103.975 million which amongst others include funding for learner transport, safety education and rollovers.

“Included in the additional allocation is an amount of R70 million to address budget pressures for learner transport, a rollover of R2.144 million for Public Transport Operations Grant and other rollovers amounting to R22.591 million. The Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development department baseline allocation recorded a net decrease of R7.560 million from R305.3 million to R297.708 million.

“The net decrease is a result of the downward revision of the own revenue target by R20 million and an additional amount of R16 million for the implementation of the Liquor Licensing System, the VTSD Economic Forum and Mining Development Lekgotla. Resultantly, the Gambling Board’s budget has also been decreased by R11.8 million from an original budget of R89.6 million to R77.8 million,” Nelson said.

She added through reprioritization and the implementation of efficiency measures, Finance identified an amount of R19.294 million to fund pressing budget pressures in some of the provincial departments. Nelson further said the IT function that supports the financial system has been shifted from the Office of the Premier to Finance. As a result, the budget is reduced from R486.299 million to R467.005 million.

“The Education and Sport Development department received a rollover of R35.466 million for Learner Teacher Support Material, and R2.673 million for conditional grants rollovers. Furthermore an amount of R12 million is availed for the completion of Manthe and Ipelegeng Sport Facilities, which process will be led by the Provincial Treasury. An additional R3 million has been allocated for the VTSD Golf Tournament.

“The budget of this department was reduced by R60.407 million from COE, Machinery and equipment and the transfer of bursary function to Office of the Premier. Resultantly, the overall net reduction for this department amounts to R7.268 million from the budget of R15.282 billion to R15.274 billion,” Nelson said.

The Local Government and Human Settlements department received rollovers amounting to R234.043 million. Nelson said R192 million is for the Human Settlements Development Grant, R10.531 million for the completion of Disaster Management Center and R18.830 million

“The net increase of R173.610 million is as a result of a reduction of R60.433 million from COE and under-performing infrastructure projects. The total budget of this department is therefore increasing from R2.710 billion to R2.883 million. The Tourism department received a rollover of R5 million for the Taung Hotel school project and an amount of R10 million to fund budget pressures in the Tourism Board.

“Amongst others, 70 percent of these funds should be utilized for the marketing of the province as a destination of choice and the balance for the filling of critical vacant positions. After discounting savings from COE and machinery and equipment the budget of Tourism increased by R12.155 million from R245.761 million to R257.916 million to be enables them to market the Province as a tourist destination,” she said.

Nelson added that the Public Works and Roads department receives a net increase of R137.282 million as a result of an additional R100 million earmarked for payment of rates and taxes, R53.655 million rollover for Provincial Roads and Maintenance Grant and a reduction of R22,465 million from COE, machinery and equipment and bursary allocation. She said consequently, the budget of the department increases from R2.895 billion to R3.032 billion.

“Social Development department budget reflects a reduction of R7.214 million on COE, machinery and equipment and bursaries. Furthermore an amount of R1.5 million has been reduced from uncommitted capital projects towards key provincial priorities. Resultantly, the overall budget of this department has been adjusted downwards from R1.533 billion to R1.525 billion.

“The Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development department baseline allocation have been reprioritized and an additional R45 million added to the baseline to fund programmes that support agricultural economic growth initiatives by facilitating the establishment of an Agricultural Fund.

“As a result of the downward revision of the revenue target by R3.5 million and the reallocation of the COE, Machinery and Equipment, the departmental allocation increased with a net amount of R30.525 million from R1.371 billion to R1.401 billion,” she outlines.- Newsnote