The R886.6 million added to the Gauteng budget during the re-tabling of the national budget will not make a significant difference in the quality of life and service delivery for the people living in this province.
During the re-tabling of the 2025/2026 budget by MEC for Finance, Lebogang Maile, the following departments received additional allocations:
• Office of the Premier—R50 million
• Gauteng Department of Economic Development—R100 million
• Gauteng Department of Human Settlements—R332 million
• Gauteng Department of Roads and Logistics—R314.9 million
• Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Gauteng Department of Environment—R23.8 million and R18 million, respectively
• Gauteng Department of Environment—R50 million
It is concerning that no additional funding was allocated to the Gauteng Department of Health. This department is plagued with numerous challenges, ranging from surgeries being cancelled due to budget constraints which is putting patients’ lives in danger. Patients continue to suffer at Gauteng hospitals due to the department’s failure to replace broken equipment such as heating systems and laundry machines. Suppliers rendering services and products to Gauteng hospitals are suffering due to non-payment of invoices within 30 days.
Despite all these challenges, Premier Panyaza Lesufi has committed to paying e-toll debt. The residents of this province are once again losing money due to Lesufi’s ill-conceived agreement to pay the e-toll debt.
Furthermore, an additional R50 million has been allocated for the Office of the Premier to fund Lesufi’s Nasi Ispani programme that will be launched this month. This is appalling considering the pain and misery that this project has caused to unemployed youth. Despite being promised full-time positions, this programme only delivered short-term relief instead of creating sustainable jobs.
The additional funds allocated to Gauteng have also been funded by higher revenue and rollovers. The rollovers represent lost opportunities in delivering services in the previous financial year. This is at odds with MEC Maile’s insistence that service delivery remains the current government’s top priority.
While we welcome additional funds, the DA in Gauteng will monitor the implementation of the budget. The loans and SMME support initiatives have been fraught with mismanagement and poor implementation.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government will continue to fight the agreement made on the e-toll debt. We remain of the view that this province is not responsible for cross subsidising the national government’s assets. A DA government will reform the supply chain management (SCM) to lessen wastage across departments. Lastly, the DA Gauteng will ensure that money allocated to all departments is spent to benefit residents.