11 Feb 2015

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Philip Makgalemele on February 10 requested Parliament to approve his ministry’s budget estimates for the 2015/2016 financial year amounting to P2 082 679 605.

Of the requested amount, P1 043 207 960 is the recurrent budget, which has increased by four per cent from last year’s allocation.

Mr Makgalemele attributed this to increases in allocations of Office of the President, Broadcasting Services and Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). The increase under Office of the President was due to increases in gratuities, maintenance of vehicles and buildings as well as vehicle replacement accounts’.

For the development budget, Mr Makgalemele requested approval of a total of P1 039 471 645, which he said represented a reduction of 11 per cent from the 2014/2015 budget.

Out of the requested amount, 23.5 per cent (P244 271 500) will go to the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS), which will cover projects such as the upgrading of communications and security equipment, infrastructure and acquisition of vehicles.

National AIDS Coordinating Agency will receive P194 840 000, which is 19 per cent of the budget. Poverty Eradication Programme, will get P160 million while P150 million will go towards the development of ICT facilities. 

The requested funds for the poverty eradication programme will be used for implementation of alternative packages, training workshops, completion of the agro- processing and packaging plant, establishment of incubation centres for alternative packages as well as provision of decent housing for needy families.

About P169 699 780 will be allocated to the Department of Broadcasting Services and will cover the completion of radio and transmitter expansion project, equipment project, the digital migration implementation programme as well as upgrading of the outside broadcast facility.

Meanwhile, Mr Makgalemele has updated Parliament about progress and challenges encountered during the 2014/15 financial year, saying a Presidential task team would be appointed in April to lead the development of the country’s next vision, which development is expected to be concluded by December.

He also informed the House that consultation on the review of the Public Service Act is now complete and it is anticipated that the revised Public Service Bill would be tabled before Parliament in the coming session. Mr Makgalemele also spoke of poverty eradication initiatives, stating that to date 36 196 beneficiaries have enrolled in the programme, with 12 841 projects having been funded.

Out of the funded projects 9 588 are operational, 827 are excelling and 365 have failed due to lack of commitment of the beneficiaries.

He said challenges, which include water shortage, insufficient capacity of training institutions, shortage of transport and human resources, are being addressed with relevant ministries.

Further, government in collaboration with World Bank will, during the 2015/16 fiscal year, undertake a Multi Topic House survey with an aim to address both the frequency of surveys and disaggregation of poverty data.

On DCEC, the assistant minister said specialised corruption court has to date witnessed 21 cases since its establishment in 2013. ENDS