KZN Finance MEC Francios Rodgers has said he will be policing the money in the province and will be strict in making sure that the Treasury regulations are tightened as the government of provincial unity is aiming to curb unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The MEC tabled his first 2024/25 budget at the KZN Legislature where he announced that the departments of Health, Education and Social Development will receive the biggest portions.
Rodgers warned that the officials who who don’t comply will face the music.
He stressed that the “government departments, public entities and municipalities must strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of programmes to assess the measurable impact of the programmes of the MTF and to make the necessary adjustments to improve our service delivery, ” said Rodgers.
MEC Rodgers said the budget ignites hope as as resources are being allocated to bring about direct change for the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal.
It is evident that the provincial government is allocating financial resources towards building a capable and developmental state.
Rodgers acknowledges that the journey will not be easy.
It will be a long bumpy road with detours and speed humps, but with the commitment of all politicians, members of the KZN legislature as well as public officials to utilise the public funds wisely and effectively in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). We will not only reach our end destination, but we will arrive with petrol in our tanks”.
MEC Rodgers shared that the provincial government lead by Premier Thami Ntuli is working hard to create an environment to facilitate the growth of the economy through practical plans that focus on creating employment, with a dedicated focus on vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
He gave assurance that the provincial government of national unity will aims to provide various support interventions to encourage entrepreneurship amongst the young people as an innovation and its critical in the aspect of sustainable growth.
Additionally, the funds will also be spent on manning, maintaining, upgrading and maintaining community health centres, clinics, district hospitals and emergency medical facilities, provincial hospitals, central and tertiary hospitals amongst others.
Touching on the recent fires which left immense destruction in various parts of the province, Rodgers said as a caring government
Approximately 14 people died near Boston near Pietermaritzburg while fighting the fires.
A pregnant woman died in Kenville informal settlements when the fire broke, leaving more than 237 families displaced.
In other parts of the province the farmers lost livestock as a result of the fires.
Rodgers said the destruction affected people financially and psychologically.
However he stressed that the setback caused by the recent fires will not stand in the way of resuscitating the province’s economy.
“As a caring government we will walk hand in hand with the victims in their journey to recover. Government is still assessing the full extent of the damage and the national government will shortly make a determination on whether to declare the incidents as a provincial disaster. Provincial government has allocated resources to rebuild the lives of the victims, and reinstate hope in their lives. We are extremely encouraged to see that our social partners have come closer to partner with government in extending a helping hand to the affected communities.”
He called upon more businesses and social partners to get on board in assisting the affected communities.
Last week, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa also visited the visited the families who lost their loved ones in UMsunduzi Municipality.