By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

North West MEC for Finance, Motlalepula Rosho, who tabled the total budget for the province amounting to R49.712 billion at the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) in Mahikeng, said they need all hands on the deck.

Rosho said fiscal discipline, good governance and accountability will take the province to the new economic growth trajectory.   

“Consistent with the above principles, we commit to use the limited fiscal resources in order to achieve value for money and create a conducive environment for job creation. The total budget for the province amounts to R49.712 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and R97.880 billion in the last two years of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

“The 2022/23 budget allocation is made up of provincial equitable share amounting to R39.540 billion, R8.568 billion for the Conditional Grants and R1.6 billion from Own Provincial funding,” she said.

According to Rosho, the provincial budget incorporates the restructuring of some of the conditional grants and changes to accommodate the planned function shifts in the agricultural sector as well as the social development and education sectors.

On social cluster, Rosho said the province has ensured that the budget of social sector departments is protected over the MTEF. She said this was done in alignment with national priority outcomes.

“This is to ensure that the province continues to provide and expand services provided by the Departments of Education, Health, Social Development, Human Settlements and Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation.

“These departments collectively receive a lion’s share of the provincial budget estimated at 80%. This translates into a budget allocation of R39.852 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and cumulatively amounts to R77.708 billion in the last two years of the MTEF,” said Rosho.

She further said, to ensure that effective teaching and learning takes place in the schools, the Department of Education was allocated R20.346 billion in 2022/23 and R39.834 billion for the two outer years of the MTEF period. 

Rosho added that this translates into the largest share of 40.9% of the provincial budget.

“The total allocation is inclusive of R1.237 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and R2.411 billion over the MTEF for education infrastructure provision. Other key programmes to be funded include Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the Grade R and Pre-Grade R levels and the Sanitary Dignity Project.

“This will ensure that young girls remain in school and access sanitary dignity products in public schools. The National School Nutrition Programme Grant, which provides more than 191 000 learners with a hot meal at school every day, will be included,” she said.

Rosho said included in the budget allocation for 2022/23, is an amount of R633.794 million to cater for budget pressures created by the increasing number of educators and other shortfalls within the sector. She said education will continue to implement the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, which will benefit more than 800 unemployed youth.

“Resultantly, an amount of R815 million is allocated in the first two years of the MTEF. The function for Early Childhood Development has been transferred from Social Development to Education resulting in an amount of R90.453 million being shifted in 2022/23 and R179.361 million in the outer years of the MTEF.