Underspending on infrastructure amounts to treason, says CR

PROVINCIAL governments and municipalities that failed to spend money allocated for infrastructure were committing treason against their residents, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

- MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA

He was responding during a question-and-answer session in the National Council of Provinces yesterday.

ANC MP Kenny Mmoiemaang had enquired about whether the government has assessed the impact of inadequate spending by provinces and municipalities on their commitments to deliver quality and essential services to communities, particularly crucial infrastructure such as housing, schools, and roads. Mmoiemang also wanted to know whether the government has been engaging provinces and municipalities that continue to underspend and fail to adequately utilise their allocated service delivery budgets.

In his response, Ramaphosa said inadequate or slow capital expenditure has, in many ways, hampered the delivery of services that are due to the people.

“The issue of underspending is quite an important issue, particularly when it comes to spending on infrastructure allocations such as housing, education, water, and roads.