Disaster recovery clock ticking: 4 provinces must spend nearly R1bn in under 8 weeks

Flooded vehicle in Lephalale, Limpopo on 13 March 2014. Picture: Gallo Images / Felix Dlangamandla Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has increased the budget allocated to provinces and municipalities to fund the recovery and rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by disasters. The minister has increased funds by R955.9 million to only four provinces, rather than all six listed in the March 2025 disaster classification schedule.

Thegazettepublished on 6 February 2026 states that the funds must be spent by the end of the 2025-26 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2026. According to the schedule, the allocated funds are for agricultural grant support, education infrastructure grant, health facility revitalisation grant, and provincial roads maintenance grant, among the listed provinces. According to the gazette, the four provinces are KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West.

These are the provinces which have recently experienced natural disasters. KwaZulu-Natal will receive an increase of R393.8 million, to be shared among 14 municipalities in the province. Limpopo will receive an increase of R407.1 million to be shared among 18 municipalities.

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Mpumalanga will receive an increase of R90 million to be shared among three municipalities. North West will receive an increase of R65 million, also to be shared among three municipalities. According to the gazette, the funds must be spent only on damage caused by disasters classified in March 2025. “These allocations must be used for the repair of infrastructure damaged by disasters classified in March 2025,” reads the document.

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