Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday that government would be allocating a massive R10 billion for the purchase and delivery of vaccines to fight the spread of Covid-19.
CAPE TOWN – Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday that government would be allocating a massive R10 billion for the purchase and delivery of vaccines to fight the spread of Covid-19.
This comes on the back of South Africa nears 50 000 deaths as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the National Department of Health, 49 413 people have so far succumbed to the virus.
“The damage caused by Covid-19 runs deep and we share in the collective pain of many South Africans who have lost their jobs”, Mboweni said during his 2021 budget speech in the National Assembly.
“The brave and fearless sacrifices of our frontline workers continue to save thousands. We salute all our health care and essential service workers who remain standing at the front line of our fight against Covid-19.
“We also salute the many South Africans who rallied to help others survive.“
GLOBAL GROWTH IN RELATION TO VACCINES
Global economic growth is expected to rebound to 5.5 per cent in 2021 before moderating slightly to 4.2 per cent in 2022, buoyed by the expected rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and other additional policy initiatives.
HOW WILL THE MONEY BE BROKEN DOWN?
Mboweni said the 2021/22 Division of Revenue stands as follows:
* 48.7% of nationally raised funds are allocated to national government
* 41.9% to provinces and
* 9.4% to local government.
This is after providing for debt-service costs, the contingency reserve and provisional allocations.
The provincial equitable share will be augmented by R8 billion for provincial health departments in 2021/22 to deal with Covid-19, Mboweni added.
Of the R10.3 billion for vaccines, R2.4 billion is allocated to provincial departments of health to administer the Covid-19 vaccine programme.
Government will also put in place a no-fault compensation fund to cover claims in the unlikely event of any severe vaccine injuries, allocations to which will be announced in due course.
This is a developing story…
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