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GAUTENG APPROPRIATION BILL 2002/2003

Introduction

Honourable Speaker,
Honourable Premier,
Honourable Members,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

It has been exactly a year to the day since I presented the budget of the current year. Today, it gives me great pleasure to present the budget for the next financial year, 2002/2003 and the MTEF period to 2004/2005.

Democracy and a better life for all

We spoke last year of our heroic past, our determined present and our unstoppable future. Clearly, looking back on the year almost gone by, we can continue to talk of this determined present. But more than that, we can also most decidedly confirm that the unstoppable future that we spoke of is fast becoming reality. This is a reality in which South Africans are not hindered in achieving their full potential by the colour of their skin, their gender, their age or indeed their religious beliefs. Ours is a reality of a vibrant democracy and a better life for all.

The concept of democracy we have over the decades advanced is enshrined in the Freedom Charter and is articulated in a simple slogan:

'A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL'

a. We are building a society where every mother will be spared the pain of seeing her child perish from malnutrition and preventable diseases.

b. We are building a society where every father will be spared the indignity and humiliation of the inability to provide shelter for his loved ones.

c. A society where every child has access to quality education so that our children, like their peers, can be proud global citizens striving for a more just world.

d. A society where freedom means that our grand mothers, mothers, wives, sisters, and the girl child can walk freely anywhere, anytime, without fear. So that they can also unequivocally say 'yes, we are free'.

e. Honourable Speaker, we are in a province of the Cradle of Humankind where natural selection and the survival of the strongest and most cunning was an important feature in the evolution of all species including humankind. However, honourable members, we are civilised, social, cultured and spiritual beings that bear no resemblance to Mrs, or is it Master Ples, except probably some genetic code and thus the most vulnerable must not be shunned away from, but embraced as full citizens. So that our children, grandpas, grandmas and the disabled can also say: 'Yes, we are citizens and we are free'.

Honourable Premier, our work is only able to speak if it restores the dignity to all people and ensures that we all enjoy the sweet fruits of being citizens of this beautiful country.

Therefore, Honourable Members, in considering this budget we must ask the question: does it put us firmly on the path to restore the dignity to all people and ensure a better life for all? It is only when the answer is 'Yes' that we can truly say that indeed our deeds speak louder than words.

We must spare no effort in this endeavour to ensure that not a single child goes to bed on an empty stomach. This is a call not just to those who are in government but it is a call to all freedom loving South Africans. It is a call of iLima, a call to Vuka uzenzele.

As members of this Legislature, we must make our contribution so that the coming generations should not have this to say about us as written in the book, Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Marjorie Barnard and Flora Eldershaw:

'They had been a very strange people, full of contradictions, adaptable and obstinate.With courage and endurance they had pioneered ... only to ruin it with greed and lack of forethought ... they had allowed themselves to be dispossessed by the most fantastic tyranny the world had ever known, money in the hands of a few...'

Indeed, each year renews our passion to relentlessly pursue programmes and activities that are designed to uplift our people. Education, health care, and social security grants form the core of our responsibilities. We will not waver in improving delivery of these services. Our matric pass rates are improving beyond targets set, more people have access to health care and our social security net is widening. Gauteng has far exceeded the targeted number of child support grant beneficiaries with more than 242 000 children registered, and we intend to grow this by a further 100 000 child beneficiaries over the next three years.

We balance these core responsibilities with strategic investments and programmes that are designed to boost the growth trajectory of our economy thereby increasing the potential of the economy to create sustainable jobs. But our strategy does not only focus on the medium to long term, but also embraces programmes designed to deal with immediate issues of joblessness and poverty.

We are a government that is committed to good governance, transparency and accountability. We are a government that is elected by the people that is responsive to the needs of the people and a government that is therefore designed to serve the people.

THE GAUTENG ECONOMY

Amidst economic slowdown and recession in some of our important trading partners such as Europe, USA and Japan, the South African economy has shown remarkable resilience. The Minister of Finance in his budget speech projected growth levels of 2,3 per cent and 3,3 per cent in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

I know, Honourable Members, we can all rise in chorus and shout 'not enough growth, not enough growth'. However, looking at the plight of some of the countries such as Argentina, which not so long ago were registering growth levels of more than 5 per cent, can we begin to appreciate the difficult task of managing the economy in these unpredictable times.

South Africa is not just standing in awe completely paralysed by this awesome might of these unforgiving, unpredictable global markets. The Minister of Finance in his budget unleashed some endogenous economic drivers which will maintain us on this steady course and avoid the calamities that have befallen so many, Argentina being the most recent.

Thus, Honourable Speaker, whatever we do in Gauteng must enhance the ability of the South African ship to remain steady and sailing ahead in these stormy global economic seas. This indeed is what has guided us in all of our endeavours in the past seven years.

The composition of the Gauteng economy is fast reflecting a knowledge-based economy. Some of the major components of the Gauteng economy are the financial services sector that accounts for 28% of GGP as well as the consumer services sector accounting for 19%. Gauteng contributes over 40% to the national GDP, with the financial sector contributing 50%, transport contributing 44%, construction and trade 40%, manufacturing 35% and consumer services 31%.

Over the last year, weak performance was registered in the primary and secondary sectors of the economy, with the service sector registering relatively strong growth. The wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants; finance, real estate and business services were major contributors to the increase in real GGP.

A further stimulus to the Gauteng economy for 2002 comes in the form of the tax cuts announced by Minister Manuel. The tax reductions mean personal income tax payers have an additional R15 billion. Gauteng accounts for just under 30 per cent of the personal income tax payers. Thus approximately R4,5 billion of the tax cuts benefits Gauteng residents. This increase of more than R4 billion in disposable incomes will have a direct impact on demand for goods and services. We hope that this positive boost to the economy will not be eroded by an increase in prices of goods and commodities.

EMBRACING AFRICA

Africa is a critical ingredient in the growth and development of our country and our province. African pessimism is not just a phenomenon characteristic of the global markets but it is also prevalent within us here in South Africa.

When our President speaks of an African Renaissance, some of us see yet another burden to be carried by South Africa.

Africa is currently contributing to address the shortage of critical skills within South Africa. A study undertaken by the Southern African Migration Project indicates that 93 per cent of skilled immigrants hold post-secondary qualifications and 15 per cent a post graduate degree. The majority of our skilled immigrants are professionals largely in the medical, engineering and legal fields. This finding clearly contradicts the idea that the quality of immigrants to South Africa has been declining.

These studies also reveal that these African brothers and sisters are far more positive about the future of this country. African skilled migrants chose to settle in Gauteng rather than any other part of South Africa. Africa is currently contributing meaningfully to generating economic demand in South Africa generally and in Gauteng specifically.

Excluding Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia, African countries take in over 10 per cent of total South African exports and nearly 17 per cent of total manufactured exports. This makes Africa a critical destination of South African exports, exports that create and sustain thousands of jobs.

According to statistics released by Statistics South Africa, there were just over 5 million arrivals in South Africa for the period January to November 2001. The arrivals from Africa were over 3,5 million and from Europe 1,4 million.

It has been stated that approximately half a million shoppers from the rest of Africa annually buy a range of products and services in Johannesburg. This trade is worth R10 billion a year at present and continues to grow. These shoppers are classified as retail tourists and spend almost as much as tourists from Europe and the USA. Johannesburg seems well on the way towards positioning itself as the Dubai of Southern and Central Africa with all its accompanying benefits. Clearly Geda and GTA need to intensify their outreach programme into Africa.

Let us as Gauteng strengthen the efforts of all African leaders who embrace Nepad, ably lead by our very own President. Let us strive for an Africa that is captured in these words again from the book, Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Marjorie Barnard and Flora Eldershaw:

"In a few minutes now the past would be buried again under the present ... We would see neither the shaggy olive green hills of the beginning, nor the bare hills of the twentieth century but the lovely design of safe and steady fruitfulness."

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In August 2002, Johannesburg will host the World Summit on Sustainable Development. This event will provide international exposure to the city and if harnessed correctly, will provide long-term benefits for the Gauteng Province. Johannesburg has estimated that R1,2 billion will flow into the local economy and a further R150 million to the wider South African economy.

The Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) has collaborated with Johannesburg World Summit Company (JOWSCO) and its affiliates to develop a strategy for the province for the lead up to, the duration of, and beyond the Summit. We have coordinated our proposed activities in line with JOWSCO in order to optimise all resources and avoid duplication. It is our intention to provide a complete service that is easily accessible, highly visible and consistent with all activities. There will be synergy between our activities and that of our partners.

In our budget today, Gauteng commits R35 million to JOWSCO as its contribution to the successful hosting of the Summit.

Furthermore, to demonstrate our commitment to sustainable development, a special initiative has been launched that seeks to address air and water pollution, minimize waste and enforce compliance. R98 million has been set aside over the next three years to fund this initiative. We seek to promote cleaner technologies to improve the quality of our air and minimise waste. Like the efforts to clean up the Jukskei, we intend to tackle the over 50 kilometres of streams and wetlands within the Greater Soweto boundaries. We need to remove all solid waste and rehabilitate the area. Our kids deserve to play in and inherit a clean environment, an environment that sustains development. As is often said, 'we do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children.'

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

In the last year, the Gauteng Provincial Government has successfully begun to establish its programme to stimulate economic growth under the branding of Blue IQ. Clearly, all that have been exposed to Blue IQ are excited and see a bright future. Corporate Gauteng and indeed corporate South Africa are impressed by the initiatives under the Blue IQ banner.

Blue IQ is very serious about the delivery of strategic economic infrastructure to boost the competitiveness of key sectors of our economy. The aim is to crowd in private sector investments that will act as the engine for higher growth and job creation. By focusing on 10 key projects, we aim to optimise the impact on socio-economic development in Gauteng. A target of R100 billion of investments over a 10 year period resulting in over 100 000 new permanent jobs has been set.

But what has been achieved thus far and what can you look forward to over the next year?

Mary Fitzgerald Square was completed, launched and Johannesburg rocked to jazz greats on 17 December 2001. We aim to make this an annual event. Discussions with key sponsors are well underway. The Metro Mall will be completed by July this year and construction has begun on the Nelson Mandela Bridge and the Carr Street on and off ramps. Madiba, we are planning a very special 85th birthday present.

Construction has begun and our new Constitutional Court will be ready in October 2003. The Manufacturing Advice Centre in Ekhuruleni is operational with the West Rand and Vaal offices launched.

The Auto Industry Development Centre has, as part of a consortium, won a major contract to develop a special off road vehicle in South Africa and our efforts to boost the skills and human resource capacity for the auto industry paying handsome dividends in only its first year of roll out. Over 4 000 students have attended courses designed to improve our skills and capacity in the automotive sector. We project that the number of students attending these courses will grow to over 10 000 in the next two years. At present, the motor industry SETA is currently considering adopting the Gauteng auto cluster human resource development plan for the entire industry.

We have gone further in planning for the establishment of a supplier park. A supplier park is the grouping of different technologies, services of suppliers and service providers for various customers, in order to achieve synergetic optimisation through economies of scale. Eighty-two such parks exist in Japan, Europe and America. We are the first to develop one in an emerging market.

The vision of the Supplier Park is to improve the local automotive industry and ensure the long-term survival of the South African automotive industry in a highly competitive international market. We have completed the feasibility study and are ready to move to realisation. There is full support and commitment by the motor manufacturers, component manufacturers and service providers for the project. We are also in discussions with institutional investors. Blue IQ will be in a position to announce its first major investment partner by June of this year. The budget today sets aside R200 million over the next three years to realize the full potential of the supplier park.

The JIA and City Deep IDZ developments are progressing at speed with the designation of the sites gazetted on 8 February 2002 for public comments. The EIA processes for the two developments are due to begin shortly and detailed designs and plans have been drawn up. Visit the blue IQ media Centre in Newtown and you can view the model of the sites.

The first of the 'Big Five' have landed with buffalo released into Dinokeng in September last year. The formal tender process for the construction of the Interpretation Centre at the World Heritage Site has begun with short-listed bidders announced. Contractors are scheduled to move on site at the Innovation Hub by November this year.

A message to the various consortia that have been formed to bid for the Train: get the next weekend newspaper and Government Gazette. The Request for Qualification will be advertised. We have in the budget allocated R1,852 billion to Blue IQ to cover our contribution towards the project over the next three years. Remember, we only do three-year MTEF budgets and thus the full contribution of the Gauteng Provincial Government is not reflected.

We anticipate that during the construction phase alone, which will commence 2003, some 42 000 job opportunities will be created. During operations 1 220 direct jobs will be created and a further 39 000 down stream job opportunities will arise. The project is estimated to add between 0,7 and 1 per cent to GGP.

The train is on schedule for 2006. No dream but fact.

In 2005, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom Charter, one of the foundation stones of our young and vibrant democracy. This will indeed be a historic occasion. Yet, Freedom Square and Kliptown at present do not do justice to the momentous historic significance of the site.

A detailed integrated plan for the rejuvenation of the area that spans economic, social, housing, and environmental and transport development has been approved. Blue IQ has been given the mandate to co-ordinate the development with the Johannesburg Development Agency as the implementing agent. The competition for the design of the monument to be erected at Freedom Square will be published by June of this year.

Blue IQ has been allocated R209 million over the next three years with Housing setting aside R100 million. Further amounts have been set aside by Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land and the city of Johannesburg for the redevelopment of Kliptown. The long-term vision is one of prosperous, desirable, well-managed residential and commercial areas with a major international and national heritage site.

Blue IQ - the plan for the smart province. A plan of action. We are forever reshaping the landscape of Gauteng. We are gearing up to be the leading knowledge economy on the continent. We are investing in the future of our province, our country, our region, our Africa. Together, building partnerships for a better tomorrow.

TOGETHER WORKING TO DEFEAT HUNGER AND POVERTY

The projects undertaken under the Blue IQ banner are intended to address medium to long term sustainable economic growth and job creation. However, as Milton Keynes, the economist once quipped, you need to make sure that we take care of the short term if there is to be a long term.

An important component required for the delivery of quality services is our social infrastructure. The state of our schools, hospitals, clinics, social security grant pay points and community centres play an important role in delivering essential, basic services to our people. You cannot have effective learning if there is no roof or windows; healthcare is compromised if the hospital or clinic is dirty or unpainted.

On the other hand, we have scores that have no jobs with families that go hungry. Through a collective effort with business and communities, harnessing our collective energies, we aim to give people a subsistence daily wage by improving our social infrastructure. We have set aside R370 million over the MTEF period for this workfare programme called Zivuseni.

We need to work together to bring dignity and pride back into the lives of our people. The value of earning a daily wage in exchange for an honest days work is a powerful tool in our fight against poverty.

Together we aim to improve the quality of service delivery to our people. Together we are creating a better life for all.

We can defeat poverty and hunger through our collective efforts.

CONSOLIDATING OUR ACHIEVEMENTS TO IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Procurement reform under the auspices of the implementation of the Public Finance Management Act is the key priority for the year. The term of office of the Gauteng Tender Board will end on 31 March 2002. The Tender Board Act will be repealed with effect from 1 April 2002.

I want to take this opportunity to place on record my heartfelt appreciation for the outstanding work and often ground breaking initiatives of the Gauteng Tender Board. To Dr Danisa Baloyi and David Mashapalo, the chair and vice chair respectively and all of the members of the Tender Board, you have done this province proud. Your achievements in furthering the aims of small and medium enterprises and black economic empowerment set benchmarks for all to strive for. Thank you.

Procurement decisions now become the prerogative of accounting officers. The Shared Services Centre will play a crucial role in managing procurement effectively.

The Shared Services Centre will focus its attention on the development of a Strategic Sourcing Framework for GPG - to enable the GPG to improve the value it gets for its money. The initial focus will be on the bigger term contracts that exist within the province. Furthermore, work will be commencing on the development of a Black Economic Empowerment Strategy for GPG, based on the implementation of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act. We will build on the good work done in the past - by ensuring that our procurement practices contribute to the development of sustainable black-owned and run SMMEs within the province. Finally, the GSSC will focus on reducing the huge resources tied up in stock within the province. This will be tackled by implementing a pilot re-organisation in the warehousing of a range of products within the Department of Health - to improve the speed with which stock moves through the system - thus reducing the amount of stock that needs to be held. This will test the efficacy of establishing a Shared Supply Chain throughout GPG, which would be administered and managed by the GSSC.

As part of the creation of the GSSC, we are coordinating the development of an IT strategy for the province. This is critical in order for us to realise the vision of a smart province - whereby our constituents will be able to have direct access to government information and services - online.

Currently several GPG departments need call centre functionality - to enable them to improve their contact with the citizens of Gauteng. In addition, a contact centre is a critical component of any attempt to deliver services electronically. We are therefore currently developing GPG wide call centre architecture. This will be rolled-out over a period - starting with the GSSC call centre. It will offer both telephony and case-management functionality for the GSSC. This will then be rolled-out into departments to give them the capacity to record and manage contact with citizens. The rollout will start with simple telephone contact - and will develop to embrace interaction via e-mail, the Internet and mobile devices.

A GPG wide portal will be the window through which different stakeholders - citizens, businesses, visitors and any other institutions - will get access to information on our province. In this regard, all the different websites from the GPG departments - and Government projects like Blue-IQ and Gauteng Online - will be consolidated into a portal architecture that provides a single access point into the province, before being routed to the correct service and/or information destination. The SMME Portal, a Gauteng Provincial government services and information portal, and an employee portal - will all form part of the consolidated portal strategy.

Strategies aimed to consolidate on our achievements to improve service delivery and build a better future for all.

MAIN FEATURES OF THE 2002/2003 BUDGET

Now for the mundane issues of the budget.

REVENUE SIDE:

Total revenue consists of revenue from national, made up of equitable share and conditional grants, and revenue generated by the province.

Gauteng's equitable share, which is determined in accordance with the Division of Revenue Act, is R18,2 billion. The equitable share is projected to increase to R21,0 billion by financial year 2004/2005.

R3,4 billion has been earmarked as conditional grants to Gauteng. Health accounts for the bulk of the conditional grants that are used to fund academic training and tertiary health services. The supplementary grant introduced at the time of overspending in provinces has been phased out. The amounts have been included in the equitable share.

Revenue generated by the province is projected at R1,2 billion and represents 5% of the total revenue. It is projected that own revenue will increase to R1,4 billion in the third year of the MTEF.

We have budgeted an amount of R656 million for motor vehicle licence fees. Motor vehicle licences fees remain the major source, representing 52% of own revenue.

However, as is the practice each year, adjustments in the rates levied need review. The average increase to come into effect from 1 July 2001 will be 6,5 per cent. This increase takes into account inflation.

Gambling taxes are budgeted to raise R292 million. The impact of legalising other forms of gambling has had a negative impact on the horse racing industry. Taking cognisance of this as well as the impending listing of Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Ltd, the tax rate for horse racing is reduced to 1,5 per cent of gross takings, which equates to 6,5 per cent of gross revenue. This amounts to a reduction of the provincial revenue by approximately R25 million per annum. Tax rates for gambling remain unchanged.

Our commitment to continue with our incentive scheme to improve patient fee collection remains. However, not withstanding the budgeted patient fee revenue, we believe that a more appropriate target for Health to strive for is R96 million. Any patient fees collected in excess of this amount will be appropriated to Health in the adjustment budget.

Budgeted interest revenue has almost doubled from R65 million in the last year to R124 million, following the surplus reserves that Gauteng has built up. Treasury will continue to look for products in the market that can give the government competitive interest rates, while at the same time managing the risks attached thereto.Proposals from National Treasury on better cash and debt management may be introduced during 2002.

EXPENDITURE SIDE:

Budgeting is always a challenging exercise. It is about making choices. We have attempted to balance our responsibilities of providing and extending social services with the need to fight poverty and contribute to growing the economy.

Economic Classification of Expenditure:

The Bill before this house seeks to appropriate R22,5 billion for the 2002/2003 financial year. The forward estimates for expenditure reflects R25,1 and R26,8 billion for the outer two years. Capital expenditure sees that largest year on year increases and accounts for 15 per cent of the total expenditure proposed for 2002/2003.

Personnel expenditure accounts for 50 per cent of expenditure with R11,2 billion set aside. There continues to be a marginal decline of personnel expenditure as a share of total expenditure over the MTEF. In the outer year, personnel expenditure comprises 47 per cent of total expenditure. This is further indication that the province has continued to move towards allocating funds to non-personnel expenditure in the social sectors and spending on investment on infrastructure to promote growth.

18 per cent of the budgeted expenditure is earmarked for transfers and subsidies. The bulk of the R4,0 billion allocated for transfers and subsidies is made up of social benefits. Social benefits have been increased by R50 per month for old age pensions and R20 per month for the child support grants as announced in Minister Manuel's budget speech. Furthermore, the provision for social benefits take into account that the increases are payable from 1 April 2002 and not 1 July like in previous years. To digress a little. These increases go directly into consumption expenditure thereby boosting economic activity. That is approximately R270 million additional expenditure within the economy of Gauteng this year.

Investment in infrastructure development has reached 15 per cent in 2002/2003. We have steadfastly reprioritised our budget over the years that has seen the allocation for capital expenditure grow from a base of 6 per cent in 1995/1996 to 15 per cent. Actual spending on capital expenditure in 1996/1997 was R362 million, in 1999/2000 we spent R939 million and in the current year we estimate capital spending to be approximately R2 billion. The budget allocation for capital expenditure in the 2002/2003 financial year is R3,3 billion, growing to R4,8 billion in fiscal year 2004/2005. This shift has shown our commitment not only to improve service delivery through investing in social infrastructure but also our commitment to growing the economy by investing in strategic economic infrastructure. I believe we have found the balance.

We do remain concerned with our capacity to implement capital projects. The need to ensure that the delivery agents for capital projects have adequate capacity to deliver is paramount. Planning timeframes and concomitant budgets need to be synchronised if we are to avoid the spectre of under spending. We are reasonably confident that these ramping up problems have been adequately addressed and that spending will be in line with budget in 2002.

FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION:

Provinces are largely responsible for the delivery of social services in the form of Health, Education and Social Security. Consequently, the bulk of the provincial budget is allocated to the social services. This represents 83 per cent of the total expenditure budget.

Education accounts for the largest slice of expenditure at R7,9 billion. That comprises 36 per cent of expenditure. Education expenditure increases by 8 per cent over current estimated expenditure and on average by 6,8 per cent over the MTEF. These increases reflect real increases in Education spending over the next three years. Education has achieved the 85/15 split in personnel versus other expenditure, thus ensuring that adequate support materials and infrastructure expenditure contributes positively to increasing outputs.

Learner numbers have gone up from 1,096 million in 2001 to 1,148 million in 2002. With a budget allocation of R7,9 billion, that translates roughly into spending per child of R6 958. Learners numbers are estimated to grow on average by 5,5 per cent over the MTEF to 1,27 million.

The wealth of the people of Gauteng lies in their health. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has brought the health facilities under severe strain and this has seen a change in disease patterns, which has necessitated the change in strategies to the delivery of the service.

Health expenditure sees a 7,4 per cent growth from current estimated actual expenditure to R7,2 billion for 2002/2003. Our health institutions treated 698 000 patients in the last year. Gauteng spends on average R10 300 per patient. The allocation for Health grows in the outer two years by 7,3 per cent and 5,0 per cent respectively. These translate into real increases for each of the three MTEF years.

Over the last three years, Gauteng has spent R145 million on HIV/AIDS awareness programmes. We continue to provide a special allocation for our intersectoral HIV/AIDS programme with a further R75 million in this budget.

Social benefits in the form of old age grants, child support grants, disability grants and foster care grants are and remain our most effective tool in our fight against poverty. It targets the very people that are most vulnerable. Above inflationary increases have been announced by the Minister of Finance for the MTEF period to claw back the value of these grants. Gauteng has prudently provided for the payment of these grants to all currently registered beneficiaries. Provision has also been made for an increase of an average of 100 000 new child support beneficiaries over the three years.

During the 2002 year, I will return to this house to table an adjustment budget. In that adjustment budget, I will include an amount of approximately R554 million for the back pay of beneficiaries. These beneficiaries were paid from the date of registration rather than from the date of application.

For the period March 1998 and November 2001 approximately 155 000 new child support beneficiaries and approximately 76 000 other beneficiaries were registered in Gauteng. These registrations took on average 4 months to process. The registration of applicants in the provinces varies from 4 months to 8 months.

The exact amount will be based on the actual back pay calculations done by the National department of Welfare. This will flow directly into the purchase of goods and services in the economy.

I am sure that we all join forces to urge our civil service to speed up the processing of these payments and to treat our vulnerable with the care and dignity that they deserve.

The key infrastructure departments, Housing, Transport, Roads and Public Works and Finance and Economic Affairs under which Blue IQ falls, receive R1,0 billion, R1,2 billion and R967 million respectively. These allocations account for 13 per cent of the total expenditure.

Surplus:

Gauteng has over the past three years introduced a policy of tabling surplus budgets. As a policy we have maintained a surplus of approximately 1 per cent to deal with unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure that may arise during the year. In keeping with this policy, a surplus budget of R236 million is tabled for 2002/2003.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ten months of hard work culminates in the tabling of this budget and the documents before us today. I need to pay homage to those that have made this possible.

* The Premier for his leadership, advice and guidance, thank you.
* My colleagues in the Executive, for your support and understanding.
* Each of the Heads of department, their Chief Financial Officers, together with the management teams in each department.

Budget statement 2 is your effort. The staff of 110 000 that you collectively manage in delivering what this budget is meant to achieve, thank you.

My Treasury team. This is your day. Thank you.

I wish to pay special tribute to a lady that operates in the backrooms to whom the province owes a great deal of gratitude. She has overseen the creation of one set of books from the old TPA and department of Education. She managed the successful transition of the province from FMS to BAS. She has seen to it that we have closed our books on time and submitted to the Auditor General our financial statements for audit purposes. Susan Woest takes leave of us at the end of this month. Your contribution to this province has been immense. I am sad to bid you farewell today.

Finally, my family. Thank you for your support, caring and warmth. They say behind every successful man is an even more successful woman.

CONCLUSION

Honourable Speaker, I today table the following documents for the consideration of the House:

The Gauteng Appropriation Bill, 2002
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill,
Budget statements 1,2 and 3
The budget booklet for 2002/2003
A copy of my speech

We can have a better life, a better future through our collective efforts. Let us work together, let us work with Africa, let us build partnerships for a better tomorrow, for a better future.

To end, a quote from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran:

"You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.

For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's processions, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turn to music.

Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?"

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the MEC for Finance & Economic Affairs, Gauteng, 26 February 2002