Budget Speech 2015

SCHOOLS TO MEET MINIMUM STANDARDS BY 2016

All schools are expected to meet minimum norms and standards for infrastructure by next year, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said in his 2015/16 budget speech in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

"The school infrastructure backlogs programme is allocated R7.4 billion for the replacement of over 500 unsafe or poorly constructed schools, as well as to address water, sanitation and electricity needs," he said.

From May this year, all school building plans would be standardised and the cost of construction controlled by the office of the chief procurement officer.

"Too often, and for too long, we have paid too much for school building projects."

Nene said routine maintenance of school buildings and minor construction work would be decentralised.

This would be accompanied by measures to combat inefficiency and corruption at district and school levels.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga was overseeing a review of staff planning for schools, to ensure pupil-teacher ratios were at appropriate levels.

From January next year, all books delivered to schools would be managed through a centrally negotiated contract.

Education would again get the biggest slice of this year's budgetary pie at R265.7bn.

The breakdown in spending for the 2015/16 financial year was:

-- R191.1bn for basic education;

-- R26.2bn for university transfers;

-- R25.3bn for skills development and adult education;

-- R13.1bn for education administration; and,

-- R10bn for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

Nene said increased spending in the NSFAS would support a further increase in university enrolments and in technical and vocational colleges.

"We are mindful of the pressures of student financing at our higher education institutions," Nene said.

The budget for the scheme was estimated at R11.9bn in 2017/18, up from R9.2bn in 2014/15.

According to the 2015 Estimates of National Expenditure, students would be able to apply directly to the scheme and register only once for funding by 2017/18.

This would allow the scheme greater control over the number of students it supported and ensure more students received assistance on time.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:11
 
HEALTH DEPT BUDGET R157.3BN IN 2015/16

The health department's budget allocation for 2015/16 is R157.3 billion, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Wednesday.

Tabling his first main budget in the National Assembly, he said there had been a marked reduction in child mortality in the past five years, supported by improved access to antenatal services.

A substantial part of the budget was for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and maternal and child health.

Three million patients were now on the antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programme.

"The mother-to-child transmission of HIV has decreased from 20 percent a decade ago to two percent last year, and is expected to decline further over the period ahead," Nene said.

The department was in its fourth year of the phased 15-year roll-out of the National Health Insurance (NHI).

The white paper on the NHI, to be released soon, would elaborate on proposed policy.

A NHI fund would be established over the medium-term to purchase health care services on behalf of the population.

Details on the functioning of the fund would be set out in the white paper.

Nene said the National Treasury would also soon release a discussion paper on financing options.

Spending on the NHI had been lower than anticipated the past two years, partly due to difficulties in contracting general practitioners.

Over the medium-term, the focus of the NHI grant would be to pilot the contracting of health care professionals.

Nene said R1.5bn was being shifted from provincial budgets to the national health department to enable the National Institute of Communicable Diseases to be directly funded.

He said this shift would be offset by lower tariffs for services provided by the National Health Laboratory Service.

The Office of Health Standards Compliance had been listed as an independent legal entity.

According to the Budget Review document, this office would be responsible for inspecting and accrediting all public and private health facilities.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:12
 
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT BUDGET UP 7.9 PERCENT

The 2015/16 social development budget allocation of R155.3 billion will largely be spent on assisting vulnerable groups, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Wednesday.

The 7.9 percent increase in the budget over the previous year was to cater for a larger number of beneficiaries, mostly in the child support grant, and higher grant pay-outs, he told the National Assembly in tabling his first main budget.

The system supported around 16.4 million beneficiaries.

Old age pensions and disability grants would increase on April 1, from R1350 a month to R1410.

The foster care grant would increase from R830 to R860 a month.

The child support grant would increase to R330.

According to the 2015/16 budget review, the increased value of social grants was in line with projected inflation and would be reviewed in October.

Gordhan said the "long-outstanding" discussion paper on social security reform would be published.

"Both health insurance and social security are vital concerns of all South Africans, and we look forward to public debate and engagement between stakeholders," he said.

In the long-term, the department planned to develop an in-house grant payment system.

From the new financial year the SA Social Security Agency would start taking over the biometric enrolment of beneficiaries from a contractor.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:12
 
NENE MOOTS ASSET SALES FOR PARASTATALS

Private investment in parastatals and selling off some of their assets are part of the state's plans to lessen their drain on its finances, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said in his 2015/16 budget on Wednesday.

"Fiscal support to state-owned companies over the period ahead will be financed through offsetting asset sales so that there is no net impact on the budget deficit," Nene said in his first main budget speech in the National Assembly.

He noted that state-owned companies would invest some R360 billion in the next three years through projects such as Transnet's freight modernisation programme, and that this would account for about a fifth of the country's gross capital formation.

"However, the financial position of some state enterprises is unsatisfactory, undermining their ability to contribute toward development."

Nene said reforms were needed to ensure that parastatals contributed towards building a competitive economy and did not drain the fiscus.

This would mean ensuring that their developmental mandates were appropriately financed.

Nene avoided, as his predecessor Pravin Gordhan had, the politically fraught term privatisation, but in addition to selling off public enterprises' non-core assets he stressed that private funding and partnerships were part of the plan to turn around those that were struggling.

"Private investment and partnerships with state-owned companies are elements of our strategy for strengthening infrastructure investment and improving service delivery."

Nene confirmed that the first instalment of a R23bn lifeline would be paid to Eskom in June, with two more to follow, but promised no new cash injections for South African Airways and the SA Post Office.

He said SAA had so far drawn R8.3bn of the R14.4bn government made available to it in guarantees.

However, the state's allocations to the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) were set to grow by 5.9 percent over the three-year medium-term expenditure framework.

Nene confirmed that cost recovery from users remained government's guiding philosophy on funding certain forms of infrastructure, and that this would apply to roads.

He said government had heard the concerns about the socio-economic impact of e-toll tariffs in Gauteng, hence it would shortly announce a revision of monthly ceilings.

"But cost recovery from road-users will continue to be the principal financing mechanism for this major road system."


Source : Sapa /ef/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:13
 
FOOD SECURITY A PRIORITY: NENE

Food security remains a top priority, with 1000 farms set to benefit from a recapitalisation and development programme, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene announced on Wednesday.

Tabling his first main budget, for 2015/16, in the National Assembly, he said government planned to acquire 1.2 million hectares of land in the next three years, with R4.7 billion allocated for developing farms.

Fetsa Tlala, government's 2012-2017 food security strategy, encouraged smallholder farmers to produce food for subsistence consumption.

Farming advice and financial support would be provided to smallholders through a projected R7bn conditional allocation to provinces over the medium-term.

The agriculture, forestry, and fisheries department's total budget for 2015/16 was R6.38bn.

Nene said R296 million had been allocated to "support the oceans economy".

"This will enhance our climate change research and management of ocean resources," he said.

According to the 2015 Estimates of National Expenditure, the small-scale fisheries policy would be developed and implemented by 2019/20.

The department also aimed to develop and implement the fishing rights allocation process framework for commercial fishing sectors by 2019.

Former fisheries minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson announced last year that the fishing rights allocation process and its decisions and outcomes would be set aside following the results of an independent audit report she commissioned on the process.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:14
 
GOVT SPENDING ON PUBLIC SAFETY CONTINUES TO RISE

The SA Police Service (SAPS) will receive close to half of government's R171.2 billion allocation to the defence, public order, and safety function, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Wednesday.

Tabling his first main budget, for 2015/16, in the National Assembly, Nene said the bulk of the money would be used to tackle "the unacceptably high levels of crime in our country".

About two thirds of the SA National Defence Force and SAPS budgets would go to compensating soldiers, police officers, and other employees.

"To cover a funding shortfall created by higher than anticipated remuneration costs, the departments of defence and police have reprioritised R2.4bn and R1.1bn respectively from their goods and services budgets," according to the budget review document.

Over the medium-term, the defence department would spend R2.8bn of its budget on safeguarding the country's borders. Another R4.5bn would be spent on regional peacekeeping operations.

Spending on courts and prisons would increase to R39.1bn.

Over the medium-term, a total amount of R492 million would be reprioritised towards improving access to justice, Nene said.

"Legal Aid South Africa will receive R126.8m to increase the number of legal practitioners by 167, helping to clear a backlog in the courts," the budget review stated.

"The National Prosecuting Authority will receive R81m to appoint 41 additional prosecutors."

The office of the chief justice, which would be established as a separate department on April 1, would receive an allocation of R5.2bn over the next three years.

The public protector and the Financial Intelligence Centre would receive additional funds to bolster their numbers.

"Over the medium-term, R60m has been reprioritised to the [office of the] public protector of South Africa to increase its investigative capacity and to retain trainee investigators," the document said.

"An additional R60m is allocated to the Financial Intelligence Centre to employ additional permanent staff with investigative and analytical skills."

Police watchdog the Independent Police Investigate Directorate would set aside R93.9m over the next three years to establish a specialised investigative team to focus on "priority investigations".


Source : Sapa /cp/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:13
 
POST OFFICE TO REVIEW OPERATING MODEL

The SA Post Office (Sapo) will review its business operating models, according to the 2015/16 budget documents tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

Its focus over the medium-term was on stabilising business operations and aligning business models with the challenges it faced, the Estimates of National Expenditure stated.

"In this transition period, while delivering on government's social mandate, the post office will adapt to its rapidly changing environment by reviewing postal policy, increasing productivity, improving business operations, and improving financial performance."

It aimed to achieve these goals by improving cash flow management, reducing costs around infrastructure and procurement, and improving service delivery.

Additional funding of R64.9 million was approved for 2015/16 to implement a new delivery model.

"The new model involves a combination of mobile units and retail postal agencies as opposed to brick and mortar structures, and is expected to lower the cost of postal services delivery in under serviced areas."

The Sapo was paralysed by a strike last year.

Its books reflected a deficit of R682m in the new financial year, based on revenue of R6.93 billion and expenses of R7.61bn.

It was estimated that the deficit would be reduced to R350m in 2016/17.

Revenue was generated from providing postal and courier services as well as from interest income and financial transaction fees.

Non-tax revenue was expected to grow at 4.3 percent over the medium-term due to difficult trading conditions, declining mail volumes, and increased competition.

Expenditure on salaries and wages was expected to grow at 1.3 percent and decrease as a proportion of total expenditure.

To this effect, staff posts would be reduced from 23,775 in 2015/16 to 22,831 in 2017/18 "due to the expected rationalisation of staff in line with the turnaround plan".

The organisation was in negotiations with the Independent Communications Authority of SA to temporarily suspend or reduce its universal service obligations over the medium-term, due to difficult trading conditions.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:15
 
STATE AIMS TO REDUCE STINKY AIR

The environmental affairs department wants citizens to inhale clean air, according to the 2015/16 budget tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

It plans to increase the number of air quality monitoring stations to 105 by 2017/18, from 65 in 2013/14.

The finalisation of desired emission reduction goals for various sectors would provide a regulatory framework for improving ambient air quality, according to the 2015 Estimates of National Expenditure document.

The SA Weather Service would receive transfers to the value of R570 million over the medium-term which would, among other things, ensure air pollution emissions were constantly monitored.

The department had a R5.9 billion budget for the 2015/16 financial year, most of which would be spent on environmental programmes.

Fighting wildlife crimes, particularly rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, remained a top priority.

To combat this, an additional allocation of R140m would be allocated to deploy more rangers in the park.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:15
 
MOVE TOWARDS 'CATALYTIC' HOUSING PROJECTS

Housing provision will aim to create more spatially, socially, and economically integrated communities, according to the 2015/16 budget tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

The human settlements department hoped that "mixed use catalytic projects" would put an end to isolated and segregated communities.

To this end, it expected to disburse R315 million to eight metro municipalities over the medium-term for some 30 catalytic projects.

Provinces, municipalities, and certain public entities received transfers from the department to deliver housing.

Over the medium-term, transfers to provinces would increase to R59.1 billion through the human settlements development grant. In the same period, transfers to metro municipalities would increase to R33.3bn through the urban settlements development grant.

According to the 2015 Budget Review document, the National Housing Finance Corporation disbursed R675m in loans for affordable housing development.

It also leveraged R2.2bn in co-financing from the private sector to support these housing projects.

The corporation targets households earning between R1500 and R15,000 a month, who struggle to obtain bank loans.


Source : Sapa /je/jk
Date : 25 Feb 2015 14:14
 
I personally am not prepared to pay even more tax to this thieving, incompetent government. I think this is the time I was waiting for to make a move to Oz or UK etc.
I'll also pay high tax there, but I'll pay less on travel, insurance, security, medical expenses etc.
 
Wino said:
I personally am not prepared to pay even more tax to this thieving, incompetent government. I think this is the time I was waiting for to make a move to Oz or UK etc.
I'll also pay high tax there, but I'll pay less on travel, insurance, security, medical expenses etc.
Click to expand...

My insurance and medical aid in the UK was pretty similar to here. Petrol was far more expensive
 
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