Finance Minister bolsters budget
KZN Finance Minister promises province it will get its money's worth.
THE KwaZulu-Natal Finance Minister, Belinda Scott, vowed to keep an ‘eagle eye’ on her department’s R878-million budget allocated for the next year.
Following Premier Senzo Mchunu’s departmental budget speech delivered on Tuesday, Scott said she will watch their budget expenditures closely to ensure that funding stays on course.
Public Finance – a business unit within the KZN Treasury – will continue to act as the Big Brother.
‘Public Finance will continue with its robust monthly expenditure and revenue analysis and the monthly presentation of the provincial budget performance and the provincial cash situation to the Executive,’ said Scott.
‘Where there are signs of in-year pressures, these will be attended to immediately so that KZN remains on its stable trajectory.’
Scott added that over the last few years, Treasury introduced management controls by public entities to boost compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and other relevant legislation to guarantee the Province obtains good value for money.
To accommodate pressures caused by global economic turbulence, there will be ‘robust focus’ on the province’s own revenue generation.
‘Treasury will intensify its efforts to expand the provincial revenue base,’ said Scott.
‘In particular, the close ties with the Department of Health will boost its revenue collection potential with regard to patient fees.
‘Strategic interventions will also be explored with Transport to minimise the loss of motor vehicle licencing revenue to neighbouring provinces.
‘Also, the KZN Gaming and Betting Board and the KZN Liquor Authority are expected to increase their revenue collections significantly through a number of expansive initiatives, while ensuring that their social responsibilities are not compromised,’ Scott said.
Premier’s plans
Delivering his budget speech for the financial year 2014/2015, Premier Mchunu also outlined how he is distributing his office’s budget of R697-million to various programmes in his office.
Of the R54.2-million allocated to the Royal Household Department budget of R54.2million, R42.3million would be used for King Goodwill Zwelithini’s support service, R9-million for planning and development and R2.9-million for farms.
The Youth Chief Directorate will have a budget of R120.2-million, which would largely be used to train about 7 000 government employees on the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
