Yesterday during the Mpumalanga Legislature's virtual discussion, the FF Plus took a strong stance and criticised the ANC government for the cutbacks made to certain departments' budgets, particularly where it is most detrimental.
The biggest cut was made to the budget of the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport that is responsible for the upkeep of the public and specifically the district roads in the province.
In the FF Plus's view, it is short-sighted to allow existing infrastructure to collapse by not maintaining it seeing as after Covid-19, this infrastructure will play a significant role in the province's economic recovery and growth.
Cutbacks are inevitable due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but savings must be found elsewhere, like in luxuries such as security services. Security is the police service's responsibility.
It appears that security services are currently being outsourced to well-connected cadres of the ruling party at exorbitantly high tariffs. Security services for provincial assets cost tax payers in Mpumalanga almost R53 million per month.
The sky-high budget allocated to the Department of Health was met with general approval as everyone realises that the Covid-19 pandemic must be combated effectively. The FF Plus, however, warned that it should not be seen as a test run for the implementation of the unaffordable National Health Insurance (NHI).
The ANC government is doing a terrible job of managing the country's finances on provincial level. Mpumalanga is not in need of more governance, but less.
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