Gauteng Finance MEC Nkululeko Dunga has raised serious concerns about the province’s financial management, highlighting underspending by key departments and a growing backlog of unpaid suppliers despite a R179-billion budget.
Speaking in Soweto during his first briefing as MEC, held deliberately in a community setting at the Dube hostel rather than a formal boardroom, Dunga emphasised that the budget is for the people and directly affects communities. He announced that the provincial government is implementing a programme of action to restore financial discipline and strengthen governance.
Dunga warned departments and municipalities that continued underspending and unfunded budgets pose a serious risk to the financial and fiscal stability of Gauteng. He pointed to critical departments failing to spend allocated funds, which are meant to improve lives through infrastructure, service delivery, public safety, agricultural support, digital modernisation, and community development.
Specific underspending figures cited include:
- Department of Human Settlements: approximately R180 million
- Gauteng Provincial Legislature: R179 million
- Community Safety: R81 million
- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: R79 million
- Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation: R46 million
- e-Government: approximately R58 million
Dunga used the housing crisis visible at the Dube hostel to illustrate how underspending in human settlements is affecting millions of residents, while departments responsible for delivering infrastructure are not utilising available funds. He described missed opportunities in sports and recreation as directly impacting individuals’ futures.
The MEC stressed that communities cannot continue to experience collapsing infrastructure and poor service delivery while government records both over-expenditure and under-expenditure in critical sectors. He expressed particular concern over conditional grants and infrastructure expenditure, noting that funds allocated for schools, libraries, roads, clinics, sports facilities, and agricultural support programmes are being returned or not fully utilised.
Dunga also addressed the dire state of municipalities, singling out examples such as Merafong that need to address mounting debt, poor revenue collection, and financial management.
He linked part of the current financial pressure on the Gauteng government and treasury to the legacy of the e-toll project, stating that R9.2 billion has already been paid to settle related debt, with approximately R10 billion still outstanding and another payment due next month.
Dunga’s briefing underscored the need for departments and municipalities to improve performance to prevent further risks to service delivery and provincial stability.