Civil organisations and opposition parties have described the R179.2bn Gauteng budget tabled on Tuesday as “reactive and stagnant”, saying it reflects no growth.
Economic development MEC Lebohang Maile, who delivered the provincial budget speech in the legislature in Johannesburg, said the budget continued to prioritise front-line services but was strained.
While only two departments — human settlements and community safety — saw budget cuts, health, education and social development, collectively known as the social sector, jointly received about 83% of the budget:
- the health department received R70.3bn;
- the education department R70.9bn; and
- social development R5.6bn.
Section27’s Matshidiso Lencoasa said the budget did not reflect growth and flagged issues such as overcrowding, the pupil admission crisis and deteriorating health infrastructure.
“There is a rising number of people who are coming in, which the MEC acknowledged. But when you look at the investments in addressing those socioeconomic needs, it’s not reflected in the budget. Investments in infrastructure for health and education are going to go down and remain stagnant, at least over the next three years. And that’s concerning for us,” she said.
It would indeed be audacious to hope. The problem is that the budget increased by 2%, but taking inflation into account, we are worse off than we were in the previous financial year
— Ruhan Robinson, DA economic development shadow MEC
The government’s plan to partner with the private sector was concerning, as it could not be held accountable, said Lencoasa.
“What they are proposing in response to the infrastructure crisis is public-private partnerships [PPPs], so privatising it. And that’s a concern for us because, for that to work, you need a capable state. If the private side of the PPP falls apart, we still have to pay as taxpayers, but we also cannot hold them accountable for the constitutional obligation to education or health.”
DA economic development shadow MEC Ruhan Robinson said the budget allocation was worse than last year’s.
“The theme of today’s [Tuesday] budget was ‘the audacity to hope’. And if we carry on on this trajectory, it would indeed be audacious to hope. The problem is that the budget increased by 2%, but taking inflation into account, we are worse off than we were in the previous financial year,” he said.
The budget’s priorities were not aligned with what was needed, said Robinson, referencing the R200m budget cut for human settlements, while the allocation for the provincial legislature increased by R200m.
Maile said they will engage parties in the coming weeks before the budget vote, while the EFF is speaking about opposing the budget.
“We will continue to engage all parties, but we will not deal with these issues on public platforms because we have access to the leadership of these political parties. We hope that, in the best interests of the public, we will reach agreements. The EFF has a significant presence in the legislature, just over 10%, so we will work with them and with everyone else to try to pass the votes,” he said.
This is a province that is more interested in making sure that people are dependent, as opposed to helping them create jobs
— Ayanda Allie, Bosa
Ayanda Allie from Bosa said the budget makes residents more dependent on the government.
“If you look at the fourth quarter of 2025, we saw 54,000 jobs lost in Gauteng. And yet you have the ANC promising, for example, R1.8bn for economic development. You juxtapose that with social development, [the allocation for] which is R5.6bn. It tells us that this is a province that is more interested in making sure that people are dependent, as opposed to helping them create jobs,” she said.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi welcomed the budget as a step in the right direction.
“For the first time, we have worked together with the national government, provincial government and local government. Because if you can’t fix local government, we are not going to get things right. So we are of the view that we must now do the work and shut out the noise, because there is a lot of noise and a lot of things I don’t think are taking us forward,” he said.
Koena Mashale
www.timeslive.co.za
