Western Cape budget pushed through as legislature takes steps to combat Coronavirus

On Thursday 19 March, the Western Cape provincial legislature pushed through Finance MEC David Maynier’s 2020/2021 budget — despite opposition parties not agreeing to push through certain votes — including for safety, health, local government and education. 

While the opposition African National Congress rejected the budget, it was pushed through by the majority Democratic Alliance members.

Provincial finance MEC Maynier tabled his 2020/2021 budget, titled “A Budget for You”, on 10 March. It was announced this week in a statement by DA chief whip Mireille Wenger, on behalf of the legislature’s programming authority, that the Western Cape provincial legislature would  “expedite parliamentary processes to allow for the consideration of the province’s budget by the end of the week”.

During Thursday’s rush to push through the R224-billion budget for the next three years, ANC chief whip Pat Lekker rejected the budget and the appropriations adjustments, saying there had not been enough consultation and debate for the budget votes to be put through.

The party objected to the passing of budgets for the departments of community safety, health, local government and education. This was despite Maynier stating in his budget that “the largest percentage of the budget will go to frontline services — R83.2-billion to health, R79.4-billion to education and R8.4-billion to social development”. 

Previously, the ANC’s shadow finance MEC Nomi Nkondlo described Maynier’s budget as not pro-poor and failing to invest sufficiently in areas where there were high crime rates. 

Speaker of the provincial legislature Masizole Mnqasela put through budget votes despite clear objections by political parties. 

GOOD MPP Brett Herron said that had debates taken place, he would have questioned certain things.

“The DA government says it wants to do the right things. Its failure to budget for these things says all we need to know about its commitment… For example, the Western Cape Safety Plan promises more boots on the ground together with social programmes to address the root causes of crime.

“There’s a massive budget allocation to fund the extra boots bit, but the budgets of the social development, education and health departments don’t reflect any money to implement social programmes on the ground… The Department of Social Development acknowledges the plan while reducing spending on drug treatment programmes,” said Herron. 

The rush to complete the budget is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. South Africa has 150 confirmed cases, with 46 in the Western Cape confirmed by Thursday afternoon. The legislature announced it would suspend committee meetings and cancel public outreaches and educational activities. International trips are cancelled as well as incoming trips.  Members of the legislature will be encouraged to practise social distancing and to allow staff to work from home where possible.

In addition, during the last sitting of the legislature, it was announced that Christina Nomdo had been recommended by the standing committee on social development to become the province’s first Children’s Commissioner.

This role will be independent of the Western Cape government and accountable to the provincial legislature. Should Premier Alan Winde approve her appointment, Nomdo will be responsible for the protection of and advocacy for children’s rights and implementing legislation to protect the rights of children. 

“The next step in this process is that the premier must consider the recommendation and make the final appointment. We are proud of the work we have done to fill this important office and we look forward to the contribution of the commissioner,” said Gillion Bosman, chairperson of the committee. DM