No COVID Budget lifeline for Eastern Cape
September 3rd, 2020
The Special Adjustments Appropriation passed by the Eastern Cape Legislature today offers the people of the Eastern Cape no hope at all. What should have been a budget to support and guide our people through the worst health and economic crisis that have ever faced this country has become a box-ticking exercise for bureaucrats. At a time when the government should be pulling out all the stops to assist those …
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How government is destroying business in the Eastern Cape
August 21st, 2020 Instead of helping businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout of the subsequent lockdown, the Eastern Cape government appears dead set in driving the final nail into the coffin, by withholding billions of rands owed to their service suppliers. This came to light during a briefing from the Eastern Cape Provincial Treasury to the Finance Portfolio Committee on the state of the provincial fiscus yesterday, ahead of the …
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Government support of EC economy now critical
August 18th, 2020 The tabling of the Eastern Cape Adjustments Appropriation Bill later this month is a unique opportunity for the ruling ANC to batten down the hatches and ensure that we survive the worst economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents a unique opportunity to ensure that government plays the enabling roll that local business so desperately needs to survive. The economy of the Eastern Cape will not be spared the …
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Seven boreholes within an area of 5,8194 million hectares. This is the extent of the drought aid assistance that the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform will spend on farmers in the drought-plagued Sarah Baartman District. This is a slap in the face of farmers in the Sarah Baartman district who have been battling prolonged drought conditions for six years. This will also have a devastating impact …
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National government have made R35 million available for drought relief funding that, while welcomed, is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of farmers who have been severely impacted by the worst drought on record. This is in response to the application submitted in November last year, where the province asked for R643 million in drought assistance from National Treasury, and comes at a time when Provincial Treasury has already projected …
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The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature have adopted a pre-pandemic budget, despite being hit by the biggest health care crisis in a century. Even though the Eastern Cape Health Department is collapsing under the pressure of increasing COVID-19 infections, the province has adopted a budget with almost no additional funding for this struggling department. The Democratic Alliance accepts that it is impossible to address all of the inherent, historically fiscal problems …
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The drastic water cuts on extraction from the Kouga Dam that are expected to come into effect from tomorrow, could be a devastating for Gamtoos Valley Farmers. The Democratic Alliance has reliably learnt that the Department of Water and Sanitation has cut the normal water allocation for agricultural use from the Kouga Dam by 80%. The 20% that is left over, which farmers can still extract, will not be sufficient …
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The dire projections given by the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, during the adjustments budget yesterday, cannot be ignored any longer, and Eastern Cape Government need to start seriously cutting back on expenditure, if the province is to weather the economic storms that lie ahead. The year ahead will be the litmus test for Premier Oscar Mabuyane, it will make or break his administration. The last financial year has already …
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Gamtoos Valley farmers under threat as Kouga dam levels plummet
June 11th, 2020 Gamtoos Valley farmers, who are reliant on the water from the Kouga dam, are on the verge of losing entire orchards, and the Provincial Government has shown no interest in assisting them. This will have a devastating impact on employment in the area, which will affect lives and livelihoods. This week the Kouga dam was at just 8.26% of capacity, and all indications are that the dam will most likely …
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Urgent intervention needed as municipalities start pushing through unrealistic budgets
May 28th, 2020 Urgent intervention is needed as Eastern Cape municipalities begin pushing unrealistic budgets through their councils, with rates and tariff increases far above inflation. This comes at a time when ratepayers and consumers are under immense financial pressure, due to the extended lockdown measures imposed on them by national government. If municipalities insist on trying to squeeze blood out of a stone, they are going to face a significant backlash and …
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