Gauteng finance and economic development MEC Mandla Nkomfe has increased provincial spending on IT - making good on a promise made by his predecessor and current Gauteng premier Paul Mashatile.
In February 2008, Mashatile stated the province would spend at least half a billion rand on ICT over the next three years - with more money expected once some groundwork is done.
This year, more than R3 billion has been allocated to the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) for the implementation of its IT projects - among other IT allocations.
The budget for province for the 2009/10 financial year has grown by R7 billion from the 2008/9 amount of R48.5 billion, to R55.3 billion. Some R40 billion of this will go towards infrastructure development in the province. Nkomfe stated the budget will grow to a total of R60.7 billion in 2011/12 and the total growth amounts to R12.2 billion.
"The 2009/10 MTEF budget is reflective of the five-year provincial government priorities for the term of office 2004/9. It seeks to ensure we successfully complete our current term of governance and lay a solid foundation for the next term of government," Nkomfe said.
The projected revenue for the 2009/10 financial year is R59.4 billion and this amount consists of an equitable share transfer of R38.9 billion, conditional grants of 13.3 billion, Gautrain proceeds of R4.2 billion from national government and the province's own revenue of R3 billion.
Nkomfe also stated the total expenditure for the 2009/10 financial year amounts to R55.3 billion, before clearing the expenditure on Gautrain of an amount of R3.8 billion that took place in 2008/09.
In the coming years, provincial government will invest over R40 billion towards infrastructural development. This includes the completion of Gautrain and construction of key nodal routes in the province.
More for GSSC
The GSSC has been allocated R3.8 billion over the medium-term - a sharp increase from the R450 million the centre received in 2008 and also from 2007, when it was allocated R93 million.
Nkomfe also stated R1.6 billion will be set aside for key programmes, including Gauteng Online, e-government services and IT security services. Another R1.2 billion has been allocated towards increasing of access of schools to computer services through the roll-out of the Gauteng Online schools project.
He also stated that, in order to improve the stakeholder access to government information and services from a central point, a total of R313.9 million is allocated for e-government services.
Security also featured highly on the MEC's priorities, as he awarded the GSSC R151.9 million for the IT security needed to safeguard government information.
The Gauteng Treasury has been allocated R660.8 million over the medium-term - R243.8 million of which is earmarked for the Gauteng Fund Project Office. The office is tasked with finding “alternative ways of financing strategic infrastructure projects in the province” - including key projects such as the G-link.
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