Ramaphosa deems government underspending treasonous against citizens

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the continued underspending of budgets by provinces and municipalities as “treason” against South Africans.

Ramaphosa said he’s concerned about the ongoing trend where departments in provinces and municipalities fail to spend allocated funds on key service delivery issues like housing and roads.

The number one citizen is currently responding to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on a number of issues affecting the country, from service delivery to transformation.

The president said underspending is due to poor planning and has called for greater consequence management against officials.

“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. This is of great concern. I often characterise it as treason against the people of South Africa.”