Mpumalanga Provincial Budget Speech

We were invited by the MEC of Economic     Development, Finance and Tourism, to attend the budget speech for the 2022/23 provincial budget in the beautiful Mpumalanga Legislature, as well as the post budget speech breakfast as his guests.  Our   comments at the    breakfast were around the allocation for roads which is about half of what is required, we  also pointed out that government has many more   resources than just funding.  Public attractions and other suitable places on government land should be made available for private investment, as well as farms that are expropriated should go into partnership with commercial farms to get them operational again.  We were promised by the HOD responsible for roads that the tourism roads will be fixed this year and that we will see a difference within the first 3 months.  A voluntary toll is proposed for the mines who uses the ore trucks to assist with road repairs. We proposed that the tolls be collected on site an not at new weigh bridges, and that the funding should be applied for    by-pass roads which is used exclusively for the trucks.  They do not only destroy the roads, but the entire   experience of enjoying our beautiful scenery.  Dodging 1200 trucks on the road kind of dampens the mood…

http://treasury.mpg.gov.za/documents/Provincial_Budget_Speech_08_March_2022.pdf