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Gauteng Finance MEC Must Table Provincial Financial Statements By Month-End

Consolidated Provincial Financial Statements

Gauteng Finance MEC Barbara Creecy has until October 31 to make the province’s consolidated provincial financial statements available for public scrutiny – which the DA firmly believes belies the true state of the province’s financial performance.

The Public Finance Management Act makes it clear that this report must be tabled in the Legislature, something which has not happened since March 2014.

Under the watch of Premier David Makhura and Finance MEC Barbara Creecy, the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has been lauded in some quarters as affecting “game-changing” strategies to enhance government services.

GPG’s Finances

However, after going to great lengths to retrieve the consolidated financial statements for the 2014/15 financial year – which was not tabled by end October 2015, the DA can reveal that the GPG’s finances are all but sound and received a qualified audit opinion from the Auditor General.

The AG found that that the GPG racked up billions in accruals, legal liabilities, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Click here to view the report.

According to the report, R2.22 billion worth of accruals have been outstanding for longer than 30 days.

This has a massive impact on service delivery and deals a heavy blow to the budget process, as delayed payments are rolled over to the next financial year.

Delayed payments also take their toll on service providers who cannot get by without secure cash flow.

Township Economy

With Premier Makhura announcing that the GPG would support the Township Economy by procuring goods and services from the informal sector, the GPG’s current payment record will be the deathblow for many small to medium service providers.

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R416 million in 2014/15, up 66% from the previous year’s R166 million. These funds could have been used on underfunded programmes, such as student bursaries, drought relief and support to NPOs.

The DA looks forward to MEC Creecy tabling the report within the next 11 days so as to provide a true reflection of the real state of Gauteng’s financial affairs.

 

Media Enquiries:

Adriana Randall MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Finance

060 556 4342

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70 Cooperatives Lose Out On Economic Growth Opportunities

Gauteng Department of Social Development

The Gauteng Department of Social Development failed to assist 70 cooperatives through workshops aimed at increasing their financial viability and sustainability.

The 3rd quarterly report presented by the department indicates that only 394 out of a targeted 464 cooperatives attended these crucial workshops.

This is a clear indication that this administration lacks the proactivity and leadership necessary to encourage more cooperatives to attend empowerment sessions.

Township Economy

The Social Development Department has a critical role to play in the Gauteng Provincial Government’s 30% procurement target which aims to strengthen the township economy.

This target will remain an abstract vision if the department excludes those it is meant to bring into the fold.

Cooperatives, particularly those within disadvantaged communities, create much needed work opportunities for low skilled workers.

The DA will continue to closely monitor the Department to ensure it meets its objectives and that the economically excluded are brought in to the economy through programmes designed to empower them.

 

Media Enquiries:

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development

060 558 8297

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Economic MEC’s Township Economy Programme Lacking Substance

Township Economy Revitalisation Programme

Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, has promised to work with township business owners in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, who have sited municipal rates as the major stumbling block holding back their growth, in an effort to bolster his departments Township Economy Revitalisation Programme (TERP).

However, what the MEC has failed to realise is that while his intervention, while outwardly noble, is far too focused on one location for his TERP to be viable across Gauteng.

Of all three metropolitan municipalities across the province, Ekurhuleni has the lowest rates for water, electricity and other municipal services.

Limited Information, Limited Consultation

While the claims of township business owners in Tembisa are, as the MEC put it – most likely legitimate, Tembisa is not the only township in Ekurhuleni nor the province where business owners have challenges paying municipal rates.

For the TERP to truly distinguish itself and be a viable programme, wider consultation must be held with all stakeholders from all municipalities across Gauteng both local and metro.

What is evident from the limited information offered by both the MEC and the Department is that TERP is more of a talk shop project than one of any real substance and it is highly unlikely that any real significant change will be made to improve the climate of township economies.

Cumbersome Bureaucratic Regulation

One of the ways in which the MEC could assist would be to establish special economic zones in townships, as recommended in the Department of Trade and Industry’s Industrial Policy Action Plan, reducing cumbersome bureaucratic regulation and incentivising SMMEs.

The DA will continue to support township businesses and offer positive solutions to get people working in sustainable ways, not simply attempt to gloss over real issues with empty promises.

Media enquiries
Janet Semple MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Economic Development
082 462 8239

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