Some opposition parties in Gauteng Legislature remain critical of Maile’s revised budget

JOHANNESBURG - Some opposition parties in the Gauteng Legislature remain critical of Finance MEC Lebogang Maile's revised provincial budget, even after adjustments were made.

Maile retabled the budget on Wednesday to accommodate key changes in the province's projected revenue.

An additional R886 million has been added, bringing the total projected revenue to R172 billion for the current financial year.

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Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) provincial chairperson Nkululeko Dunga said Maile's budget doesn't reflect the true state of the province.

"I think the priorities on the budget are skewed on the basis that you have R1.2 billion that is allocated for the provincial legislature and political parties while you still have about R240 million allocated towards housing. A sound decision would have been to allocate R1.2 billion to the housing and the R200 million to the political parties."

The Democratic Alliance (DA)'s Ruhan Robinson said that budget allocation could have been better.

"All in all, many of our concerns stay exactly the same as with the previous budget. It’s the enormous allocation of almost R5 billion to pay for the e-toll debt, which we still believe is not for the province to pay. We shouldn’t be paying that money."