Gauteng IT untouched by changes

Johannesburg, 29 Jun 2009

Gauteng IT projects will remain untouched by changes in government and the contracting economy, says finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe.

In his budget presentation, Nkomfe said infrastructure projects, promoting job creation, will not be affected. While the budget aims to accommodate changes due to the restructuring of government, Nkomfe explained government priorities still remain the same. He noted special projects, such as the creation of ICT infrastructure and the hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, remain key and would not be negatively impacted.

“We are all aware of the difficult financial situation we are facing, as the Gauteng provincial government, due to the global economic meltdown. This situation, honourable members, has resulted in a decline in the revenue collected by both the national and provincial government. This situation calls for hard choices and making trade-offs in planning and budgeting for government programmes.”

According to the department, the R100 million allocated for provincial IT infrastructure programmes would not be affected, along with R164 million set aside for the Intelligent Transport Management System. Gauteng Online, which received R350 million, would not be impacted and Blue IQ would still receive R314 million.

Only the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) received additional allocations. Nkomfe states the department will receive an additional R97.9 million. It was previously allocated R3 billion.

The 2009 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) budget appropriation takes into account the reallocation of budget from the Department of Roads and Transport to the GSSC to fund the call centre services the GSSC rendered on behalf of the Department of Roads and Transport in the 2008/9 financial year, he said.

Nkomfe explained the costs for these services was not finalised during the preparation of the 2008/9 provincial adjustment process in November 2008 and during preparation of the 2009 MTEF budget process in February 2009.

More with less

Echoing statements made by Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyana, in her state of the province address, he noted the province needed to do things differently with speed in an effective and efficient way.

Nkomfe reiterated the Gauteng economy, like the rest of the country, will experience contraction - and added that adjustments would only be made when necessary. It is projected the growth rate will decline to a low of 2.1% in 2009, before it recovers in 2010, he noted.

“As indicated in the February budget speech, fiscal discipline is critical in order to accelerate service delivery. Departments have to realise efficiency gain and focus on using available resources for key provincial priorities. Therefore, departments should tune themselves to the mode of doing more with less,” he said.

Nkomfe added these special projects would turn to the private sector for assistance. The estimated demand for investment in the public service shows government, and even donor resources, fall far short of the amount required, he noted. Access to private capital can speed up the delivery of public infrastructure and relieve the existing strain on infrastructural demands.

“The private sector adds value to such projects by enhancing the overall design and implementation of such projects by taking into account the costs of longer term maintenance and renewal. This enhances the potential for new innovations and complementary procurement tools.”