Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, hon members, hon visitors to this House, Minister, on the whole we support the current division of revenue and the fiscal framework. However, two matters are of concern to me because they negatively affect the citizens of this province.
Firstly, just as Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are severely prejudiced by the immigration of people looking for job opportunities, health care and decent education, so are we. We are looking forward to this year's census as it will provide us with updated information on our population. We suspect that the Western Cape's official population figures will jump considerably, and we look forward to a more fair division of revenue based on these new figures. Of course, the new division will not take into account the 206 000 people that are expected to immigrate to this province within the next three years, and more in the following years, as they will only be captured in the subsequent census.
Hon Chaane has a holier-than-thou attitude about jobs, but I did not hear the hon member Chaane say anything about Jimmy Manyi's one million jobs that people of this province are going to lose should the government implement its plan. Nevertheless, I must point out that we welcome citizens from other provinces who wish to come to the Western Cape in order to receive better quality health care and education. We will not turn them away, but we need government to recognise that the global trend of urbanisation, as well as the DA-led government's excellent reputation, is resulting in more and more citizens making the choice to move to this province. This is placing a strain on our ability to deliver the kind of services that all South Africans in our new democracy deserve. The Western Cape is currently providing economic growth opportunities, health care and education to people of other provinces, such as the Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape. These provinces continue to receive the funding despite not providing the service. In essence, we have to do more with less and they have to do less with more.
It is clear that the days of a one-size-fits-all-approach, and a funding differential that promotes towns and regions with very little growth potential, should honestly be reviewed. We must fund economic development where the potential and capacity exist. This is the model followed by China, India and Brazil, our partner Bric countries, from whom we must learn lessons.
Let me elaborate on one final matter that is of grave concern to me. The year-on-year above-inflation wage negotiations by the Bargaining Council are not always fully covered by the National Treasury's funding. Provinces budget according to an inflation forecast and whenever this is exceeded, we have to top up the shortfall. Money is redirected away from service delivery to the poor into the pockets of government employees.
In the Western Cape, we have 76 000 employees and a salary bill of just R20 billion. Even minor unfunded adjustments have major impacts on our fiscus and accordingly on our ability to deliver.
We can no longer allow union representatives to bully us into redirecting funds away from the majority and towards its members. We need to debate this matter urgently and determine a reasonable way of proceeding well before the salary increase silly season commences. I thank you. [Applause.]