26 February 2014
Tabling his 2014 Budget in Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a massive expenditure plan that will be anchored by the country’s National Development Plan (NDP).
Gordhan said that government spending would be R1.25-trillion for the 2014/15 financial year, with consolidated non-interest spending increasing to R1.3-trillion by 2016/17 – an increase of about 2% per year over the next three years.
Here’s a quick look at where the money will be going.
- Education and training will get the lion’s share, with an estimated allocation of R254-billion, followed by health (R146-billion) and social protection (R144-billion).
- Some R143-billion will go towards housing and community amenities, while R57-billion will be spent on employment and social security programmes.
- About R10.3-billion will go towards manufacturing development incentives, while R15.2-billion will be set aside for economic competitiveness and support packages for job-creating businesses. A further R3.6-billion has been allocated for job creation in the country’s special economic zones.
- R11-billion will be spent improving the country’s rail infrastructure, including new rolling stock and signalling upgrades.
- R77-billion will be spent on primary healthcare services and a further R240-billion on public hospitals.
- A total of R600-million has been allocated for the roll-out of a new vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Young girls at primary schools will be vaccinated from next month in order to prevent future development of cancer of the cervix.
- R1-billion will be added to the conditional grant for HIV/Aids prevention and treatment to sustain the roll-out of the state’s free antiretroviral treatment programme. A total of 2.5-million South Africans are currently under treatment, and 500 000 new patients are expected to join the programme each year.
- R19.3-billion will be spent on refurbishing clinics and hospitals, while R1.2-billion will be set aside for contracts of general practitioners, ahead of the full implementation of the country’s National Health Insurance.
- Six metro municipalities have been targeted for a new grant of R300-million a year to build their capacity to plan for integrated human settlements.
- R899.2-million has been set aside for the provinces to upgrade their sanitation infrastructure. Over the next two years, R1.9-billion will be spent on eradicating the bucket system, while R15.4-billion will be spent on regional bulk infrastructure over the next three years.
Source: SAnews.gov.za
