Cape Town - The government plans to spend R947.2 billion in public sector infrastructure over the three-year medium-term expenditure framework period.
The Budget review released by the National Treasury on Wednesday allocated R63.4 billion to fund public housing and
bulk infrastructure for low-income housing subsidy programmes.
It added that although these assets were transferred to homeowners and not
retained on the public sector balance sheet, the expenditure was an important public contribution to the built environment.
The government allocated metropolitan municipalities R35.9 billion for bulk infrastructure, land and basic services, with a focus on upgrading informal settlements.
The government also allocated R3.2 billion for social housing through the consolidated capital grant.
The review said the Human Settlements Department planned to start 25 catalytic development projects over the next three years, which were integrated mixed-use, mixed-income human settlement developments.
“The department will facilitate the delivery of 368 530 fully subsidised units, disburse 66 554 finance-linked individual housing subsidies and
upgrade 623 635 houses in informal settlements by 2019,” it said.
It said state-owned companies would spend a projected R432.8 billion over the next three years, while provinces were expected to spend R198.2 billion on infrastructure and municipalities R179.6 billion during the period.
The review said energy expenditure was expected to total R234.5 billion over the next three years, with Eskom accounting for R203.8 billion.
It said water and sanitation would get R125.3 billion over the medium term to develop and rehabilitate infrastructure, including dams, canals, water treatment works, reservoirs and pipelines to connect households.
The review also allocated R18.4 billion to regional bulk infrastructure grant and R12.5 billion to the water services infrastructure grant in terms of the Water Infrastructure Development Programme.
It expanded the water services infrastructure grant to include the eradication of 25 383 bucket sanitation systems in informal settlements and to provide 170 water and sanitation infrastructure projects in the country’s 27 most impoverished district municipalities.
The Water Trading Entity will receive R5.7 billion over the medium term, including R2.6 billion for the implementation of a long-term solution to acid mine drainage.
Government- and state-owned companies plan to spend R327.7 billion on transport and logistics, with Transnet’s capital expenditure expected to total R118.4 billion over the next three years.
This will include R9.9 billion in 2017/18 for the acquisition of electric and diesel locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail, R4.25 billion on phase one and two of the manganese rail project, R2 billion on the first phase of the new multi-product pipeline, R6.1 billion on capital infrastructure, locomotives and wagon maintenance, and R84 million on the acquisition of tugs.
A total of R35.6 billion will be invested in health infrastructure in all spheres of government in the next three years, while consolidated education expenditure will total R50.1 billion, with provincial education departments using R37.6 billion from the education infrastructure grant to build new schools and other
facilities such as libraries, laboratories and administration blocks.
An amount of R3 billion has been allocated over the medium term to the Department of Higher Education and Training to continue construction at the University of Mpumalanga and Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape.