by Deidré Baartman, MPP – DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Budget
Date: 22 April 2024
Release: Immediate
Attention broadcasters: English soundbite from MPP Deidré Baartman attached.
The Western Cape Budget Committee today voted to not support the 2024 Division of Revenue Bill, which sets out how nationally raised tax revenue is divided between each sphere of government, in its negotiating mandate to the NCOP. This bill determines the vast majority of funding available for the Western Cape Provincial Government’s Budget.
Once again, the Western Cape is being shortchanged. Provinces have still not received the full amount to cover the public service wage increase that was agreed to last year. This means that the provincial government will have to cut frontline services to cover the shortfall of the centrally agreed increase. To deal with this, the Budget Committee recommended that the national government must fully fund the public sector wage increase agreement for all provinces, and that it must become standard practice for the national government to fund centrally agreed wage increases.
In addition, several key conditional grants to the Western Cape have been decimated. The cuts to conditional grants for provincial and local governments are excessive and damaging to the service delivery capabilities of these governments, especially to poorer residents who depend on these grants the most. Cuts to infrastructure grants, such as the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, are especially worrying, as infrastructure represents an investment in the future of the province.
The Budget Committee recommends that National Treasury do not make any budget cuts to conditional grants affecting infrastructure as this risks future development; and that these funds should be sourced from the national governmental budget instead of cutting local government and provincial government budgets. It is also recommended that no more generalised mid-year cuts to conditional grants take place as happened last year, and if cuts must take place they are based on individual cases.
Some of the most damaging cuts to provincial grants include:
| Name of conditional grant | Reduction from Main Budget 2023/24 to Main Budget 2024/25 |
| Ilima/Letsema Projects Grant (land reform): | -27.7% |
| Human Settlements Development: | -5.62% |
| Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant: Provinces: | -24.4% |
| Social Sector Expanded Public Works Programme Incentive Grant for Provinces: | -32.02% |
Something that is especially worrying is that the grants with the biggest reductions are directly linked to the provision of services to our most vulnerable residents. How does the ANC expect provincial governments to uplift their residents when they cut them off at the knees? The Western Cape will never support a Division of Revenue that will take money away from those in our society that need it most. We have made strong recommendations in our negotiating mandate, and we call on our colleagues in the NCOP to thoroughly consider and incorporate these recommendations before the bill is finalised.
Media Enquiries
| Deidré Baartman, MPP |
| DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Budget |
| 083 302 4132 |
| deidre.baartman@wcpp.gov.za |
DA WCPP Newsroom 