Botha-Bothe June 02 — The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has conducted pre- and post-budget consultative meetings in the district aimed at gathering public views on national development priorities and budget implementation.
Speaking during the consultations, the Ministry’s Budget Controller, Mrs Maleshoane Lekomola, said the meetings were intended to review the implementation of the 2025/26 national budget, assess the outlook for the 2026/27 budget and collect feedback from communities and stakeholders.
Mrs Lekomola said the consultations, which started last year, help the government formulate financial policies and understand challenges faced by different districts so that they can be considered during future budget planning.
She said the meetings also provide districts with an opportunity to identify tourism attraction sites and discuss ways of developing them into sustainable sources of income for local communities.
“This is a good opportunity for districts to tell us about their tourist attraction sites and how they can be developed to generate income,” she said.
Mrs Lekomola further urged participants to consider the effects of global challenges such as conflicts in the Middle East and climate change, saying these continue to negatively affect livelihoods and economic activities.
She explained that these factors have disrupted value chains and contributed to the rising cost of living due to increasing fuel prices.
Mrs Lekomola stressed the need for districts to develop strategies to address such challenges and sustain local development. She added that the conflicts and FMD outbreak emerged after the 2026/27 budget had already been approved by Parliament.
