President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Tuesday evening that R130 billion will be reprioritised within the country’s current budget, while the remaining R370 billion will come from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Ramaphosa added that funds will also come from varied global partners and financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the New Development Bank formerly known as the Brics Bank and the African Development Bank.

He further explained these international financial institutions have been offering financial support for countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

R20 billion will be set aside for the continued fight against the coronavirus. This will be used to conduct further screening and testing. The money will also put towards the procurement of protective equipment for health practitioners as well as ventilators for patients, amongst others.

A further R20 million has been allocated for municipalities to ensure there is emergency water supply, sanitation as well as food and shelter for the needy.

The latter has raised some concern from South Africans on social media platforms especially regarding rampant corruption and mismanagement affecting municipalities. In mid-2019, the auditor-general (AG), Kimi Makwetu, released the latest municipal audit results, showing an overall decline for the 2017/18 financial year. Makwetu said these deteriorating audit outcomes indicated that various local government role players have disregarded the audit office’s recommendations.

OFM News