South Africa: Provinces Overspend by Billions on Health

Image via Wikipedia

Tamar Kahn

The Western Cape health department is projecting a budget overrun of just R60m for the fiscal year ending March 31, in stark contrast with other provincial health departments which have run up overdrafts into the billions, it emerged yesterday.

This suggests the Western Cape health department has better financial management skills than many of its counterparts, which are deep in the red because they had underestimated the cost of implementing the occupation-specific dispensation for healthcare workers. The government has been phasing in occupation-specific dispensations since 2007, in an attempt to retain public sector workers by linking higher pay to new categories of posts.

Provinces that had not maintained accurate records of the staff on their payroll underestimated the number eligible for higher pay, with significant financial consequences, said the Western Cape's head of health, Craig Househam.

The Eastern Cape will overspend on its budget by R1,6bn, according to the Public Service Accountability Monitor, while KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are projecting over-runs of R2,3bn and R1,75bn, according to Western Cape health MEC Theuns Botha. Since provinces had to pay their staff, the lack of funds had hampered their ability to provide services and pay suppliers, he said.

South Africa: Provinces Overspend by Billions on Health