Page 646 - Provincial Treasury Estimates.pdf

Provincial Treasury
1.7. Budget decisions

Provincial Treasury is part of the initiative spearheaded by the Office of the Premier to centralise

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the province starting in this 2023 MTEF period. This
will assist the province to optimise resources as this will create a pool of resources that will reduce

outsourcing of services in the province.

1.8. Aligning departmental budgets to achieve government’s prescribed outcomes

The department’s key constitutional mandate, as stated above, entails the provision of strategic and
technical leadership in the efficient and sustainable allocation, management and utilisation of financial
resources to provincial departments, municipalities and public entities in order to improve the quality of life

in the province. To give effect to this mandate, the department has selected four strategic priorities in line
with the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Provincial Development Plan (PDP) and these include

Fiscal Consolidation; Supply Chain Management Reforms; Infrastructure Support as well as Provincial and
Municipal Governance and Accountability.

2. 2. Review of the current financial year (2022/23)

2.1. Key achievements

The department continued to implement the identified strategic priorities that are driven throughout the

sixth administration namely Fiscal Consolidation; SCM reforms; Infrastructure Support as well as
Provincial and Municipal Governance and Accountability.

With regards to Fiscal Consolidation, the department continued to implement cost containment measures

that prioritise expenditure on core service delivery programmes and less on non-core items, whilst ensuring
the stabilisation of governance in the province. The management of wage bill also continues to be a priority

during the period under review, and this saw a reduction in the Compensation of Employees (CoE) as a
percentage of the total budget from 65.4 per cent (as per the main budget) to 63.2 per cent as at third
quarter. However, this is still above the set target of 62:38 ratio. The department continues with the Zero

Based Budgeting System (ZBBS)in the light of the current fiscal constraints, thus assisting departments to
improve in their budgeting and minimising inefficiencies.

In respect to rationalisation of public entities, the department has requested the services of Government
Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) to support the affected departments to drive the rationalisation of public

entities project to its logical conclusion. Provincial Treasury has worked with Office of the Premier towards
the establishment of a provincial steering committee to support and oversee progress on the

implementation of this project.

The department recorded an over collection on revenue during the period under review and this is mainly
due to higher than anticipated interest received from exchequer investments at Provincial Treasury. The

enhancement of revenue through the revenue study also continued during the period and Provincial

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