The Gauteng Provincial Government entered the 2025/26 financial year with a main budget of R172.3 billion, which was later adjusted to R175.6 billion and adopted by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. This amount, though significant, is insufficient to deal with the monumental structural challenges that confront the Gauteng Province, whose demographic profile as the most populous and fastest-growing province in South Africa poses significant pressures on its public services and infrastructure.
Gauteng is operating under a difficult economic environment – one that is characterised by geopolitical tensions, slow growth, high levels of unemployment and a cost-of-living crisis that is especially pronounced in metropolitan municipalities that have a high population density and thus, greater competition for resources.
To strike a balance between the growing demand for public services and the fiscally constrained economy, we have employed a combination of active debt management and revenue generation strategies, as well as spending restraint. This is reflected in this expenditure report for the period 01 April 2025 to 31 January 2026 that we will be outlining herein.
CASH POSITION OF THE GAUTENG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
As at end of January 2026, the total Provincial Receipts amounted to R149.2 billion, which translates to 83.7 percent of budgeted provincial receipts. Of this amount, R115.67 billion was derived from the Provincial Equitable Share (PES) and R1.8 billion from Provincial Financing. The PES is a system where the national government distributes a portion of its revenue to the country’s nine provinces. The national government collects revenue from various sources like taxes and levies, which are deposited into the National Revenue Fund. A portion of this revenue is then allocated to each province based on a formula. The distribution formula aims to balance the needs of different provinces, taking into account the population size,
poverty levels, and other factors. The provinces then use this funding to deliver essential services.
The conditional grants amounted to R25.7 billion of the provincial receipts. Conditional grants from the National Treasury are specific allocations of funds from the national government to provinces and municipalities, with the condition that they are used for specific purposes aligned with national policy goals. These grants aim to ensure that provinces and municipalities adhere to national standards and priorities and can be used for capital projects or operational expenses, depending on the grant’s specific conditions, which are outlined in the Division of Revenue Act, No. 24 of 2024 (Dora).
Own Revenue collection amounted to R5.9 billion, translating to 70 percent of the appropriated target of R8.4 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year. As at end of January 2026, Own Revenue collection was below the straight-line projection of 83 percent.
EXPENDITURE BY GAUTENG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
As indicated, the Gauteng Provincial Government entered the 2025/2026 financial year with a main budget of R172.3 billion, which was later adjusted to R175.6 billion and adopted by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. As at the end of January 2026, the overall expenditure for the Gauteng Provincial Government stood at R144.4 billion, which represents 82.2 percent of the adjusted budget as departments accelerated spending to meet the service delivery needs of people in the province.
The breakdown of expenditure by departments, with the expenditure percentages rounded off per accounting practice, is as follows:
- The Department of Infrastructure spent R3.1 billion or 83 percent of the adjustment budget of R3.7 billion.
- The Department of Environment expenditure is R480 million or 71 percent of the R672.1 million adjusted budget. There are still some shared corporate functions between the Gauteng Department of Environment and the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which contribute to spending outcomes for both departments.
- The Gauteng Provincial Treasury expenditure is R603.7 million or 78 percent of the adjustment budget of R775.8 million.
- The Department of e-Government expenditure is R1.6 billion or 80 percent of the adjustment budget of R1.9 billion.
- The Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation expenditure is R821.1 million, or 79 percent of the adjustment budget.
- The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development expenditure is R479.8 million or 70 percent of the adjustment budget.
- The Department of Community Safety expenditure is R2.1 billion or 83 percent of the adjustment budget in the period to January 2026.
- The Department of Roads and Transport expenditure is R8 billion or 79 percent of the budget of R10.1 billion.
The Department of Human Settlement expenditure is R4.7 billion or 76 percent of the adjustment budget of R6.1 billion.
- The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs expenditure is R452.6 million or 78 percent against the adjustment budget of R580.8 million.
- The Department of Economic Development expenditure is R1.4 billion, translating to 81 percent of the adjustment budget of R1.7 billion. Expenditure is driven by transfers to departmental agencies, which account for 76 percent. A total of 83 percent of the adjusted budget has been transferred to the department’s entities, namely: Gauteng Enterprise Propeller, the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, the Gauteng Tourism Authority, the Gauteng Liquor Board and the Gauteng Gambling Board.
- The Gauteng Provincial Legislature expenditure is R827 million or 69 percent, and the budget that remained unchanged following the adjustment process.
- The Office of the Premier spending is R1.3 billion or 79 percent of the adjusted budget of R1.6 billion.
- The Department of Social Development expenditure is R4.8 billion or 85 percent of the adjustment budget. This department has seen a significant increase in the expenditure for School Uniforms, Dignity Packs and Food Parcels for the period under review compared to the same period in the previous financial year – a reflection of the cost-of-living challenges impacting residents of Gauteng.
- The Department of Health expenditure is R55.4 billion or 81 percent of the adjusted budget. Part of this is driven by Compensation of Employees budget pressures under the HIV/AIDS sub-programme that is impacted by defunding by USAID, which was a major contributor to South Africa’s and Gauteng’s HIV/AIDS response via the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
- The Department of Education expenditure is R58.6 billion or 85 percent of the adjusted budget. The department’s expenditure is driven by, amongst other things, scholar transport, school nutrition and school municipal services.
With regards to Conditional Grants, expenditure of R23.5 billion has been recorded as at the end of January 2026. This translates to 79 percent of the total budget of Conditional Grants. This expenditure is driven by grants related to the Department of Education including the Infrastructure Grant, School Nutrition Grant and Early Childhood Development Grant, and those in the Department of Health such as the District Health Programmes Grant, National Tertiary Services Grant and the Human Resources and Training Grant. However, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Department of Human Settlements experienced slow spending on some of their Conditional Grants in this period.
Turning to infrastructure, the Gauteng Provincial Government has adopted a total adjusted infrastructure budget of R13.4 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year. In the period under review, expenditure amounted to R10.5 billon or 78 percent of the budget. Spending on infrastructure was driven by projects in the Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Infrastructure Development and Department of Roads and Transport. However, some infrastructure departments recorded slow expenditure due to a combination of delays in the implementation of projects and the builder’s holiday that ended in the second week of January 2026.
We want to commend all departments for the expenditure realised on their budgets in the period ending January 2026. This is a demonstration that departments are driving expenditure on key projects and programmes to improve public service delivery in Gauteng in line with the priorities of the provincial government.
However, we are concerned about projected overspending in some departments due to over-commitments of budgets and accruals. More work still needs to be done to manage personnel numbers especially in labour intensive departments. That is why Provincial Treasury has issued the Compensation of Employees’ Instruction Note to manage the filling of vacant posts by departments; ensuring that all posts advertised should be within the confirmed available budget.
Revenue collection from provincial sources including interest earned from investments, motor vehicle licenses, gambling and betting taxes, and hospital patient fees are important in augmenting our resources to fund provincial priorities. That is why we must continuously meet our revenue targets. I will outline some of the key and strong measures that we are taking to ensure that we realise this objective when I present the Provincial Budget to the Legislature on the 10th of March.
The Provincial Treasury remains deeply committed to the principle of good governance, at the heart of which is accountability, transparency, and responsiveness. For this reason, we have, and will continue, to provide the residents of Gauteng with information pertaining to how money is being spent by departments and entities of the Gauteng Provincial Government.
The department has an open-door policy, within the law, to provide information that may be required by all stakeholders, including the media, and particularly, residents of Gauteng and businesses operating within the province. There should be no question that we are committed to this responsibility. Through sound financial management and good governance, the Gauteng Provincial Government maintains its commitment to realise a better life for all.
INFO SUPPLIED.
