​Thembisa Shologu
The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to building safer communities, particularly for vulnerable groups, while creating much-needed employment opportunities with a clear focus on addressing poverty.
Addressing the media following the delivery of provincial government departments' Budget Votes at the Legislature on Thursday, Premier Panyaza Lesufi and his EXCO shared on how the departments utilise public funds through transparency in line with service delivery priorities and outlined milestones achieved during the previous financial year to improve service delivery while addressing the needs of the public.
For the 2025/26 financial year, the Department of Community Safety has been allocated an amount of R2.3 billion, a significant increase from the R750 million allocated since the beginning of this administration.
This year's budget is distributed across the following programmes: administration received R184 million, an allocation of R271 million for the Provincial Secretariat for Police Oversight and Community Engagement, and Traffic Management received about R1.9 billion.
"This allocation will accelerate the implementation of the 10-Point Integrated Crime Prevention Plan, rooted in the National Crime Prevention Strategy and aligned with the GGT2030 Plan of Action.
"It also supports the provincial response to the 13 priority challenges (G13) identified earlier this year, including GBVF, cable theft, and infrastructure vandalism," said Premier Lesufi.
As part of driving effective financial management and promoting transparency and good governance in the province, the Gauteng Provincial Treasury has been allocated a budget of R787 million for the 2025/26 financial year.
MEC Lebogang Maile said that to enhance sound management of finances in the province, Government would contain the wage bill of the GPG to not more than 60% of the allocated budget to ensure that compensation of employees does not crowd out the budget for service delivery.
The department will roll out the implementation of Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment, as well as E-commerce, to reduce the handling of cash in the province.
"Our revenue enhancement strategy has been actualised to ensure that we enhance own revenue collection, particularly taking into consideration our obligation towards payment of the e-Toll debt.
"We are monitoring the automated reporting platform for the current financial year to improve reporting capabilities and turnaround times relating to the preparation and submission of compliance reports. This will be done to improve the quality of financial statements and to mitigate audit findings," said MEC Maile.
Despite being South Africa's economic engine, said Maile, Gauteng has faced persistent challenges over the past decade, with the provincial economy growing by only 0.8% annually, while the population surged by 2.3% annually.
This mismatch has intensified unemployment, inequality, and pressure on infrastructure, highlighting the province's vulnerability to sectoral imbalances
"Gauteng's economy recorded zero growth in Q1 2025, despite a strong 15.8% performance in agriculture. Over the past decade, the finance sector's contribution to GDP rose from 29.2% to 34%, while manufacturing declined from 17.9% to 14.8%, underscoring the weakening of domestic productive sectors.
In addition, the Department of Social Development has received a budget totalling R5.5 billion, prioritising interventions that support youth empowerment through expanded skills development programmes, food security, and the prevention of gender-based violence (GBV) across the province.
This year, the Youth Empowerment and Welfare to Work programme will focus on trades such as plumbing, bricklaying, hospitality, and food services, which will be offered to equip youth with employable skills.
"The department is intensifying efforts to reduce youth unemployment through expanded skills development programmes.
"The Welfare to Work programme continues to create pathways for young women reliant on child support grants to gain financial independence. Since 2014, over 50,000 individuals have moved into sustainable livelihoods through this initiative," MEC Faith Mazibuko.
The Thiba Tlala, War on Poverty Programme remains central to the department's poverty response.
In 2024/25, over 404,000 food parcels and cooked meals were provided.
"There are now 28 physical and 5 mobile Community Nutrition Development Centres (CNDCs) offering meals five days a week.
"The Department is implementing food parcel exit strategies by equipping households with food production skills, supported by the Department of Agriculture, to reduce dependency and promote self-reliance," said MEC Mazibuko.
Also, as part of the efforts to combat substance abuse, over 31,000 service users accessed prevention, rehabilitation, and recovery support services.
Mazibuko said that the department has paid 98% of NPOs that have signed Service Level Agreements and were compliant.
Furthermore, proposals for funding for the 2026/2027 financial year will be released by the beginning of August.