In response to the tabling of the Gauteng 2025/26 budget in the Legislature, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) insisted that the budget should also make provision for services and support to minorities in the province.
The budget, tabled by the MEC for Finance, Lebogang Maile, does not differ much from last year’s, except for an increase of R886,6 million, made possible through the allocation of unspent funds and the overcollection of revenue during the previous financial year.
Maile emphasised that the provincial government considers service delivery a top priority.
Therefore, the Freedom Front Plus will meet with Maile to discuss the equitable distribution of the budget to ensure funds are not allocated to just one group. It is no secret that the ANC in the provincial government focuses mainly on black economic and social needs.
The needs of poor white and coloured communities are generally overlooked, with few exceptions.
So, the party decided to put forward certain conditions for supporting the budget. These conditions aim to make the budget inclusive by ensuring minorities are also eligible for assistance from the provincial government.
Firstly, the Department of Social Development’s budget should also be used to support poor white and coloured elderly and disabled people. These groups are fighting to survive and feel forgotten by society. Assistance could include financial support for social organisations caring for the elderly.
The Freedom Front Plus could help to identify organisations in need of such support and monitor their applications for financial aid until funds are allocated. The Department of Social Development is notably guilty of underspending its funds in the previous financial year, representing a significant waste of resources as well as a wasted opportunity to assist those in need.
Secondly, the benefits of the province’s Township Economic Development Act should also be made available to poor minorities residing in informal settlements as well as those in other areas. This should include providing development loans and grants, training and facilitating integration into business networks. In this way, these individuals can begin to support themselves by starting small businesses.
Maile indicated that the Department of Economic Development will receive R100 million for granting loans to small, medium and micro-enterprises. It is only fair that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from this.
Thirdly, the respective Departments of Education and Infrastructure Development should actively ensure the construction of enough public schools and additional classrooms where demand is greatest.
This addresses a critical community need in a sensible manner and, in some cases, reduces political pressure for access to Afrikaans and other non-English public schools, which are already overcrowded.
Fourthly, the new Department of Environmental Affairs should aggressively use its allocated funds to curb the rampant environmental pollution in Gauteng.
Lastly, the funds allocated to Community Safety should be better utilised to ensure the safety of poor minorities and farmers.
In this regard, the party wants to see that funds are specifically earmarked to foster better cooperation between communities and the police through competent community policing forums. The Freedom Front Plus will also look into suitable private-sector partners willing to provide funding through public-private partnerships to ensure a safer environment.
The party believes that if the provincial government implements these proposals, the budget would be much more inclusive and equitable. Currently, white and coloured communities comprise a significant part of the tax base, but see little of it reinvested into their communities where genuine needs exist.
So, the Freedom Front Plus will endeavour to have these conditions for a fair budget met.
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