Creecy dangles carrots

The Gauteng treasury is to reward provincial departments that improve their revenue collection by giving them a bigger share of the take.

The national Treasury has slashed the Gauteng budget by R500-million.

Yesterday finance MEC Barbara Creecy tabled a R95.3-billion budget for the 2015-2016 financial year.

She warned provincial government departments that they must spend efficiently and improve revenue collection.

Creecy said she estimated that R400-million more than had been expected would be collected in the 2015-2016 financial year.

"That money will be in our reserve for the next financial year. We are going to look at a way of incentivising departments for their revenue collection."

The plan was to get departments such as economic development to increase revenue collection through the Gauteng Liquor Board and the Gauteng Gambling Board. It would then be rewarded with more funding for its ambitious plans to strengthen township economies, Creecy said.

"What we want to emphasise is 'Collect more and there'll be more for you'," she said.

Most of the province's revenue for the 2015-2016 year will come from motor vehicle licences, at R2.9-billion; R804-million in gambling and betting taxes; and hospital patient fees of R456-million.

Other revenue will amount to R337.7-million.

The province is cutting back on spending on non-essentials:

• 21% less on hiring venues and facilities;
• 1.5% less on travel;
• 7% less on communication;
• 9% less on catering;
• 0.5% less on advertising; and
• 25% less on administration.

In the provincial budget, education receives 38% of the pie (R36-billion), health gets R34.1-billion and transport R6.6-billion.

But Gauteng will have to spend 55% of its budget on paying its employees.

This, Creecy said, was expected because two-thirds of the budget went to education and health.

"Those two departments are personnel-heavy. You cannot have an education system without teachers. You cannot have a health system without nurses and doctors."

She said that the broadband connection of schools to the internet would be boosted by an allocation of R1.6-billion for "classrooms of the future".

Amounts allocated to other special projects include:

• R2.3-million for the "service-delivery war room";
• R140-million for township economic revitalisation;
• R20-million for "smart" schools;
• R3.1-billion for HIV/Aids;
• R250-million for the Gauteng broadband network;
• R274-million for Syferfontein;
• R90-million for a women's monument; and
• R55-million for the Tshepo 500000 youth employment drive.