Gauteng traffic service will be 24-hour operation

Traffic services in Gauteng will be open 24 hours a day from April. 

Finance MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko has allocated R233m to the department of community service to ensure residents in the province feel safe by providing services throughout the day. Nkomo-Ralehoko made the announcement when she delivered her budget speech on Wednesday at the provincial legislature.

“A further R125m has also been made [available] to assist the department with the cost of fleet services in light of a substantial increase in the number of traffic officers, as the department has endeavoured to reduce road fatalities in the province,” she said.

DA MPL Adriana Randall said the budget ticked some of the right boxes but the party remained concerned about the wage bill.

“The DA is concerned that the public sector wage agreement for the 2022/2023 year will be taking most of the additional funding allocated to the province.

“While the wage bill is currently on 57% with the ceiling at 60%, it will remain a challenge to stay within the ceiling.

“We are pleased to see that the Gauteng Traffic Service will now be made a 24-hour service. This is very important if we want to safeguard our residents. The DA has for a long time been fighting for this, as hijackings are huge problem in our province,” Randall said.

During her speech, Nkomo-Ralehoko announced that the departments of education and health would be getting the lion's share of the R153bn provincial budget. Education will receive R59.7bn, while the department of health will get R59.4bn.

The MEC also announced that R36bn would be allocated for infrastructure projects over the next three years. The amount is to build and maintain public infrastructure to assist healthcare facilities, libraries, social development facilities and sports facilities.

EFF provincial leader and MPL Itani Mukwevho said they were disappointed. He questioned why billions were allocated to the infrastructure department, which was under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit in relation to the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital that cost nearly R500m to build.

“We're calling for Nkomo-Ralehoko's removal because how can she allocate so many billions to a department the premier spoke about and how it was not performing?

“We've sent so much money back to National Treasury because of underspending,” Mukwevho said.

In her speech, Nkomo-Ralehoko acknowledged underspending remained a challenge. She said the provincial government had introduced the concept of first preparing a business case as a minimum requirement for infrastructure projects funded from the equitable share to ensure that key strategic planning issues, cost estimates, risks and related matters were given adequate consideration before allocating funding.

“The recent budget council took a decision to review the conditional grants ecosystem. The grant framework is prepared by the national department responsible for administering the grant to guide provinces and municipalities in planning for its implementation.

“The national departments are required to ensure that all the planning requirements for the grant are completed before the financial year begins to avoid delays to the start of the implementation of the programmes,” she said.

ANC chief whip in the legislature Mzi Khumalo welcomed the budget, saying the fact that the biggest allocations were geared towards provision of social services was an indication of the government's commitment to delivering on its electoral mandate.

“Infrastructure development is a key driver in economic development. [The] caucus will spare no effort in ensuring that we hold the executive accountable for the compensation of unfinished infrastructure projects,” Khumalo said.

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