Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile has assured residents that while the provincial government is operating under a “strained” fiscus environment, the province is not facing imminent bankruptcy.
On Tuesday during a media briefing, where he outlined the province’s finances, Maile said Gauteng’s budget of R169bn was “substantial” but that its impact depended on how wisely it was spent.
“Departments and entities must adopt a disciplined approach to spending, ensuring every rand translates into meaningful progress,” Maile said.
He said efforts to improve spending were under way and included standardising pricing for frequently procured items and eliminating wastage, among other plans.
In November, the overall expenditure stood at R115.238bn (68%) of the adjusted budget of R169.213bn, Maile said.
As of now, he said, R53.9bn was available to be spent until the end of March.
“This expenditure is mainly driven by education and health departments, which account for 80% of the total expenditure,” he said.
Maile said the Gauteng department of health expenditure was R46.1bn, or 69.8%, against the adjusted appropriation of R66.017bn.
To meet our obligations to repay this debt, we have had to make difficult decisions and re-orientate our budget priorities, which, necessarily will have an impact on the fiscus.
— Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile
“This is attributed to the main programmes: central hospital services, district health services and provincial hospital services. The department received an additional R600m during the recent adjusted budget to partially offset pressures in the compensation of employees.”
The department of education expenditure was R45.9bn against the adjusted budget of R66.1bn, Maile said, explaining that the high spending came from the public special schools and early childhood development programmes.
The expenditure of goods and services at the end of November was R5m, he said.
“Due to in-year pressure, the department received an additional R300m during the adjustment budget to partially offset pressures in the compensation of employees.
“Overall the Gauteng provincial government budget increased by R3.4bn during the 2024/25 adjustment budget, which comprises function shifts, surrenders and suspensions [R92.9m], rollovers [R1.2bn] and provincial additional funding R2.1bn.
“While the 2024/25 adjustments budget saw a net injection of R3.4bn in the form of additional funding and approved rollovers, there is still pressure in a few other departments. This will necessitate further reprioritisation to avoid unauthorised expenditure at the end of the financial year.”
Turning to e-tolls, which were disconnected in April last year, Maile said the debt of R20.1bn, inclusive of interest, was a substantial bite into the already stretched and limited resources, but was confident they would settle it.
“To meet our obligations to repay this debt, we have had to make difficult decisions and reorientate our budget priorities, which, necessarily will have an impact on the fiscus.”
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