Tabling the province’s mid-term budget, MEC for Finance, Gadija Brown, said there is a pressing need for the province to implement cost-cutting measures and invest in projects that will create employment opportunities. She told the House that the provincial economy contracted by 0.1 % in 2018 and is projected to decline by a further 0.4 % in 2019. 

This, as the Free State economy has not been able to recover from the 2009 recession and only growing by an average of about 1.5 %. Brown told members of the Provincial Legislature and the public that it is worrisome that over 62% of the total provincial budget goes towards compensation of employees - whilst the majority of the youth are jobless. Following Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s mid-term budget on October 30, she reiterated that they will be implementing cost-containment measures, including a “wage freeze for senior managers earning above R1.5 million”.

She said: “As a province, we must proactively start to take tough and unpopular decisions in this adjustment appropriation for the benefit of our province. We need to focus on fiscal prudence by way of cost-cutting, and ensuring enhanced service delivery.” 

Her statement comes just weeks after Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke, released the 2019 third Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which indicated that the number of unemployed South Africans remains staggeringly high at 29.1% - with 6.7 million people actively looking for employment remaining jobless.

Maluleke in his report highlighted that 34.5% of those unemployed are in the Free State, in addition to a 0,9 percentage point increase in the expanded unemployment rate.

Brown said they will be focusing on infrastructure investments with the potential to boost the provincial economy and create job opportunities.

She confirmed to the House that over R58 million will be reprioritised to the different departments and key projects.

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