Gauteng MEC of Finance Nkululeko kululeko Dunga says the Gauteng government is under severe financial pressure, with billions of rand owed to service providers and growing irregular expenditure across provincial departments.
Dunga was briefing the media at Dube Hostel in Soweto on Thursday on the state of Gauteng’s finances and the province’s programme of action.
The MEC revealed that Gauteng departments owe service providers approximately R9.3 billion in accruals and unpaid invoices, with more than R4.9 billion already overdue by over 30 days.
“These are not merely technical accounting matters,” said Dunga.
“They represent service providers who have delivered goods and services to government, many of whom are township businesses and small enterprises, but who remain unpaid whilst government continues operating as normal.”
He warned that delayed payments are affecting businesses and jobs across the province.
“The direct consequence of this situation is collapsing businesses, job losses, weakening local economic activity and declining confidence in the state’s ability to honour its obligations on time,” he said.
Dunga also raised concern over the province’s irregular expenditure, which he said now totals about R36.5 billion historically, with the largest amounts linked to the Health and Education departments.
“This situation cannot continue indefinitely without decisive intervention,” he said.
“There must be immediate strengthening of financial controls, consequence management and institutional accountability across departments and entities.”
The MEC said Gauteng collected about R7.08 billion in provincial own revenue during the 2025/2026 financial year, falling short of its R8.41 billion target by roughly R1.28 billion.
He blamed weak revenue collection systems, declining gambling revenues and municipalities failing to hand over motor vehicle licensing revenue owed to the province.
Dunga further warned that Gauteng continues to face pressure from the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project debt settlement arrangement.
He said the province has already paid about R9.28 billion towards the settlement, with another R10.8 billion still outstanding.
“Of immediate concern is the next instalment due at the end of June 2026, amounting to approximately R4.64 billion, which will place further pressure on provincial liquidity and investment reserves,” he said.
Despite the financial strain, Dunga said Treasury will intensify oversight, strengthen procurement controls and improve revenue collection systems.
“The success of public finance management will ultimately not be measured by accounting processes alone, but by whether communities experience improvements in schools, clinics, roads, housing, transport, municipal services, public safety and broader living conditions across Gauteng,” he said.
