KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Francois Rodgers has hailed the Provincial Financial Recovery Plan (PFRP) as a step in the right direction towards resolving the province’s mounting fiscal challenges.
He said billions of rand in equitable share cuts had undermined the viability of key frontline departments and their ability to deliver essential services.
In an interview with Business Day in Sandton on Thursday, Rodgers said that when the provincial government of unity (PGU) took over after the 2024 general election, the province’s departments had been “crippled” by cuts to the equitable share grant to the tune of R80bn.
“We would budget for wage increases as a province, but national would settle at higher percentages ... so we had unfunded wage agreements, which compounded our problems,” Rodgers said.
He said the PFRP provided a clear roadmap for the PGU to reduce the debt burden without compromising service delivery.
KwaZulu-Natal is SA’s second-largest provincial economy after Gauteng and contributes about 16% to national GDP. It has a budget of R158bn for 2025. The coastal province is projected to grow by 1.4% in 2025, slightly above the national rate of 1.2%, with the growth expected to reach 2.1% and 2.3% in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Rodgers said the provincial education department spent 93% of its budget on staff salaries and noted that the “frontline departments” of education, health, and social development needed to be protected.
That meant allocations to other departments, including sports, arts and culture, transport and the office of the premier, among others, would have to be slashed. “That’s a painful process that needs to be taken; otherwise we would remain on a downward spiral,” the MEC said.
Those departments were at the coalface of service delivery, and ensuring their optimal function “forms part of our vision to develop a capable and ethical state”.
Rodgers said the PFRP, which was launched by KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli in Durban on Wednesday, looked at turning around departments under “severe fiscal pressure”, including health, education, public works and social development.
It introduces clear strategies, measurable targets and defined implementation timeframes to support sound financial management, eliminate wasteful expenditure and promote value for money in public service delivery.
The recovery plan further seeks to strengthen collaboration with key stakeholders, including civil society and the business sector, to rebuild confidence in the province’s financial systems.
Rodgers said about R1.5bn a year could be saved “if we stick to the recovery plan”. Launching the plan, Ntuli said, “Where waste exists, it will be eliminated. Where processes are inefficient, they will be reformed.” The GPU inherited R10bn worth of debt to suppliers, while accruals in 2024/25 amounted to R9.5bn.
Zulu royal family
Regarding support to the Zulu royal household, the MEC said he had had numerous meetings with Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini on the need for the kingdom to be self-sufficient. The provincial government allocated R86m to the royal family in 2025, up from R77.5m.
The MEC said there was potential to develop a commercial agricultural entity around beef in the Zulu royal household. An investor was willing to back the beef project where small and medium enterprise beef farmers would supply abattoirs, based on a model already in use in neighbouring Botswana.
Regarding the upcoming no confidence motion against Ntuli, sponsored by the MK party, to be discussed at the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature next week, Rodgers said it would not succeed.
“The legislature has 80 seats, the MK party has 37 seats. If they convince the EFF they get 39 votes. If they convince the NFP they get 40 seats,” he said, adding the MK party would fall short of getting 40 plus one, required to remove the premier.
On climate change, the MEC said the PGU takes the issue seriously and was exploring ways to strengthen its infrastructure to withstand potential risks.
That is after the Presidential Climate Commission heard from experts recently that eThekwini is a ticking time bomb for the next major natural disaster — and may even be hit by tropical cyclones.
In April 2022, catastrophic floods driven by exceptionally intense rainfall struck KwaZulu-Natal, triggering landslides, infrastructure collapse, more than 400 deaths and the displacement of more than 30,000 residents, becoming one of South Africa’s deadliest climate-related disasters on record.
“The PGU is not perfect. We inherited a province that is severely financially constrained. Through the stability we have in PGU, we can already see that there is confidence in the PGU.
“We saw that when over R100m was pledged through the economic development and tourism department into projects to be undertaken in the province on infrastructure development, job creation and poverty alleviation. Through the recovery plan, we are on the right road.”
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