After the Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni, told the parliament about all divisions of revenue, he further committedto allocating a further 9 million to municipalities that will help in funding additional water and sanitation for the public.
In the speech that the minister made in February, he proposed a cut to the state’s wage bill by R160.2 billion over three years. The minister was forced to table his supplementary budget as the coronavirus pandemic rocked the economy and tax revenue prospects.
Again, in another speech in April, Mboweni confirmed that he would table a revised budget to the parliament which also included the R500 billion relief package of the COVID-19 novel pandemic that had hit unexpectedly.
“The division of revenue presented in the 2020 Budget is revised as follows: the national share for 2020-21 increases from R758 billion to R790 billion, the provincial share decreases from R649 billion to R645 billion and the local government share increases from R133 billion to R140 billion,” said Mboweni.
The national sphere of government’s share of the division of revenue would increase by R32 billion while the provincial sphere decreases by R4 billion and the local sphere increases by R7 billion.
After the minister gave the statement, he told the parliament that he was squeezing out R9 million that would be reprioritised within allocated conditional grants to fund additional water and sanitation provision and the sanitisation of public transport.
“Municipalities will adjust their budgets to take into account the sharp decline in revenue as a result of the pandemic. We urge communities to hold councils accountable for the spending of COVID-19 funds,” Mboweni said.
