Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile Rubbishes Claims the Province Is Bankrupt, Says GP Has R53.9bn

• The MEC of Finance and Economic Development in Gauteng, Lebogang Maile, slammed allegations that the province is struggling financially
• He said a previous media briefing where he said the province could be R6 billion in the red was misinterpreted
• He clarified that the provincial government has over R53 billion to spend before the end of March this year

With over seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, offered insights into South African politics, national, provincial and local governance, the Government of National Unity, political parties and Parliament.

JOHANNESBURG — The Gauteng MEC of Finance and Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, dismissed allegations that the provincial government is struggling financially. He said the province has R53.9 billion to spend before the end of March this year.

GP has billions to spend

According to The Citizen, Maile said the provincial government's expenditure is R115.2 billion, 68% of its allocated budget of R169 billion. He allegedly stated that the province could find R6 billion in the red. He clarified that this did not mean the province would file for bankruptcy.

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How much did the government spend?

@GautengTreasury posted on its account how much the province spent. The education and health departments accounted for 80% of the province's expenditure. The Department of Health's expenditure mainly focuses on hospital (central, district and provincial) services. The Education Department spent R45.9 billion against a budget of R66.1 billion.

View the tweets here:

What Maile said in 2024

• Maile announced in November that the provincial government is planning on partnering with the private sector to build a R200 billion airport in the Sedibeng region
• He said in December that over 4500 spaza shop owners registered their spaza shops when the government gave them a deadline to register
• A few days later, he said the spaza shop registrations increased to over 13,000

Maile visits Sharpeville after lootings

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Maile visited Sharpeville in the Sedibeng region in October after lootings erupted. A spaza shop owner died after a shooting, and angry residents looted foreign-owned spaza shops in retaliation.

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Maile met with community members in the area. They were concerned that foreign nationals owned more spaza shops than locals. They called on the government to empower them to own businesses.

Source: Briefly News