Question NW1749 to the Minister of Finance

Reply:

The Minister of Finance is not directly responsible for managing any major infrastructure budgets, as such budgets reside within the appropriate national and provincial departmental budgets, municipal budgets or that of a public entity or state-owned entities. Each organ of state is responsible for maintaining appropriate and effective infrastructure budgets. From a national budget perspective, it is recognised that the issue of ageing infrastructure in South Africa has been a longstanding challenge, including for both rural and urban municipalities. There have been some proactive measures taken to address this issue. Here are some examples from the local government sphere:

• Since the 2013/14 financial year, the local government equitable share (LGES) includes a maintenance estimate of 10 per cent. This amounted to R5.6 billion in maintenance funding for municipalities to recover the cost of providing free basic services to indigent households in 2021/22, and it will be R7.1 billion in 2023/24. These funds are unconditional transfers, meaning that they are discretionary in nature. So, the municipality has the choice of whether to use them for maintenance or any other priority or budget commitment.

• Several reforms have been implemented following the review of infrastructure conditional grants in 2014. The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) includes provisions for infrastructure renewal and upgrades, a provision for road maintenance projects, as well as the ability for municipalities to develop Infrastructure Asset Management Plans using 5 per cent of their allocations. Small and rural municipalities are the main beneficiaries of this grant.

• The government has provided training and capacity building programs for municipal officials and staff to improve their skills and knowledge in infrastructure planning, management, and maintenance. Since 2012, we have been pioneering the development of critical infrastructure delivery skills in municipalities through the implementation of the Infrastructure Skills Development Grant (ISDG). Since its inception, more than three hundred people have been professionalised and/ or certified within the built environment. These professionals then exercise their expertise to manage, operate and maintain public sector or municipal infrastructure.

These proactive measures are aimed at improving the quality of infrastructure in rural municipalities, which is critical for the provision of basic services, promoting economic growth, and improving the quality of life for rural communities.