South Africa: Reimagining Health in the Eastern Cape - As Budgets Shrink, It Is More Important Than Ever to Strengthen Primary Healthcare allafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from allafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Eastern Cape Second Adjustment Budget Speech, delivered on 26 November 2020, mirrored the harsh line taken in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The total provincial budget has been reduced by R1.8-billion.
Before we explore what this means for socioeconomic rights and entitlements, particularly regarding health, it is useful to recall how provincial budgets are determined and consider what they need to prioritise.
Provinces have limited revenue-raising abilities. The bulk of provincial budgets come from transfers from the national government, with the lion’s share coming from the provincial equitable share. About 40% of all revenue raised by the government is allocated to the provincial equitable share, and a further 7% is allocated to provinces through conditional grants.
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As the final negotiations in the 2021 budget process unfold, the government of the Eastern Cape, and the Department of Health in particular, are being asked to do more with less. It is now more urgent than ever to strengthen public primary healthcare, argue
Ektaa Deochand,
Daniel McLaren.
The Eastern Cape Second Adjustment Budget Speech, delivered on 26 November 2020, mirrored the harsh line taken in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The total provincial budget has been reduced by R1.8 billion.
Before we explore what this means for current socio-economic rights and entitlements, particularly regarding health, it is useful to recall how provincial budgets are determined and consider what they need to prioritise.