UAT outraged as Gauteng returns unspent R1bn to National Treasury
The United Africans Transformation (UAT) party expressed its disappointment at the Gauteng government after it was revealed that more than R1bn earmarked for critical services had been returned to the National Treasury due to underspending in the 2024/25 financial year.
Provincial Treasury department head, Ncumisa Mnyani said on Monday that the department of health did not spend R724.6m of its R66bn allocated budget, while the department of education also failed to use R317.35m of its R66.1bn budget, Sowetan reported.
The political party said people of Gauteng cannot continue to suffer because government officials are too slow, too disorganised, or too complacent to do their jobs.
'How does a government with a R66bn health budget fail to spend R724m, when clinics remain understaffed and healthcare infrastructure is crumbling?
'How does a department with a R66.1bn education budget fail to spend R317m, while township schools face overcrowding, poor sanitation and infrastructure backlogs?' the party said.
It said Gauteng's infrastructure and services were in dire need of attention. This included roads with unaddressed potholes and maintenance needs, continuous power outages affecting daily life and economic productivity and underfunded schools requiring renovations for a conducive learning environment.
'The returned funds could have fixed our roads, schools and many more. Instead, we're stuck with potholes and darkness, crime, unemployment, lack of housing etc.'
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