MEC Motlalepula Rosho on Tuesday tabled her 2022/23 provincial budget speech. In her budget speech, she said the leadership of this province, irrespective of their political affiliation, has the responsibility to unite and deal with the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality in the province. Rosho says these leaders have the responsibility to use the limited resources for the benefit of the communities and account to the people of the province in the spirit of good governance. OFM News has previously reported on violent protests for service delivery, municipalities accused of failing to deliver basic services to the people, and the dilapidated road infrastructure across the province.  

"Poverty, inequality, and unemployment remain a challenge in our province. The North West Province recorded an unemployment rate of 35.7% in the third quarter of 2021, which was higher than the national figure of 34.9% for the same period. Compared to other provinces, the North West Province registered the fifth-highest unemployment rate for that quarter," she added.

Her budget speech came against the backdrop of the visit by president Cyril Ramaphosa who will, with others, assess the impact the national administration had on the province since it was put under the care of the national government. This budget also comes as five departments are under administration for their failure to deliver basic and quality services to residents.

Rosho on Tuesday announced her Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2022/23. She announced that the total budget for the province amounts to R49,712 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and R97,880 billion in the last two years of the MTEF.

"The 2022/23 budget allocation is made up of the Provincial Equitable Share amounting to R39,540 billion, R8,568 billion for the Conditional Grants, and R1,6 billion from own provincial funding.

The Provincial Budget incorporates the restructuring of some of the conditional grants and changes to accommodate the planned function shifts in the agricultural sector as well as the Social Development and Education sectors," Rosho further added.

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