Cape Town - The Covid-19 vaccine strategy, unemployment and security across the province are the main concerns of legislators ahead of this morning’s budget by Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier.
Maynier said: “I will detail the support package for the fight against Covid-19 including how we will prepare for the possible third wave of the pandemic; how we will fund the procurement and roll-out of the vaccine strategy; and how we will respond to additional costs arising from the fight against Covid-19.
“In addition, I look forward to making key announcements on how we will mitigate future risk; how we will beat load shedding; how we will support rapid infrastructure development; and how we will support innovation in service delivery in the province.”
ANC provincial finance spokesperson Nomi Nkondlo said: “Many businesses, especially the SMMEs are in dire need of government support and many families are in need of social support. These are the areas which the budget needs to respond to and address immediately.
“The budget needs to respond to the crisis of unplaced learners who are not in schools as a result of insufficient school capacity in the province. There is a need for additional schools, teachers and classrooms.”
ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians said: “Maynier must say what the budget will do about building safe communities. I was in Mitchells Plain where in three weeks 17 people were killed. This morning I was in Paarl which is in chaos when it comes to community safety.
“Maynier must also tell us what will happen with unemployment, which is a big problem."
Good party MPL Brett Herron said: “The budget must demonstrate that it is prepared for further waves of Covid-19 peak infections and that it is preparing for mass roll-out of the vaccination programme.
“If the government was serious about procuring its own vaccine, we will see that tomorrow in the draft budget.”
DA provincial finance spokesperson Deidré Baartman said: “The creation and protection of jobs in the province needs to remain a top priority, and innovative steps that empower SMMEs and particularly businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry are key for the recovery of local economies.
“Programmes such as the Municipality Energy Resilience project which supports local governments in their objective to beat load shedding are critical.”
Cape Argus