The new MEC for Finance in KwaZulu-Natal, Francois Rodgers, will close the Durban Treasury office to demonstrate his dedication to effective budget expenditure.
The office sits on the ninth story of The Marine Building in Durban. All KZN Treasury operations will continue at the main office, 2nd Floor North Tower, Natalia Building, 330 Langalibalele Street, Pietermaritzburg.
According to the KZN Treasury office, closing the leased office will save the department an estimated R1 million per year, which will be used to fund other strategic service delivery needs.
The MEC for Finance, Hon Francois Rodgers tightens his grip on the budget by closing the satellite Treasury office in Durban.
All Ministry operations will continue in the main office, 2nd Floor North Tower, Natalia Building, 330 Langalibalele Street, Pmb. pic.twitter.com/vetAdcstGL— KZN TREASURY (@KZNTreasury) June 24, 2024
Rodgers said that his main priority is to stabilise the finances of the province and will be working with the KZN Treasury team as well as the Executive Council to ensure that decisions are made to protect the fiscus of the province.
“During my consultation with my executive team in the department, I directed that business cannot continue as usual and we need to streamline operations,” Rodgers said.
“In this regards, I have decided to close the Durban office (which served as a secondary office) with an annual lease amount of R1,115,786.40, translating to total value of just over R5.778 million over five years that we will save.”
According to Rodgers, the KZN Treasury ministry team will operate from the Pietermaritzburg office and the team will be prescribed by the Ministerial handbook.
“My wish is to enhance the transparency of our decision making in resource allocation and utilisation and I am prepared to make tough decisions if we are to demonstrate that we mean business when we say we will stabilise finances in the province with prudent fiscal management and as KZN Treasury we must lead by example,” Rodgers said.
