KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Francois Rodgers has hailed the Provincial Financial Recovery Plan (PFRP) as a step in the right direction towards resolving the province’s mounting fiscal challenges. He said billions of rand in equitable share cuts had undermined the viability of key frontline departments and their ability to deliver essential services. In an interview with Business Day in Sandton on Thursday, Rodgers said that when the provincial government of unity (PGU) took over after the 2024 general election, the province’s departments had been “crippled” by cuts to the equitable share grant to the tune of R80bn.
“We would budget for wage increases as a province, but national would settle at higher percentages … so we had unfunded wage agreements, which compounded our problems,” Rodgers said. He said the PFRP provided a clear roadmap for the PGU to reduce the debt burden without compromising service delivery.
KwaZulu-Natal is SA’s second-largest provincial economy after Gauteng and contributes about 16% to national GDP. It has a budget of R158bn for 2025. The coastal province is projected to grow by 1.4% in 2025, slightly above the national rate of 1.2%, with the growth expected to reach 2.1% and 2.3% in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
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Rodgers said the provincial education department spent 93% of its budget on staff salaries and noted that the “frontline departments” of education, health, and social development needed to be protected. That meant allocations to other departments, including sports, arts and culture, transport and the office of the premier, among others, would have to be slashed. “That’s a painful process that needs to be taken; otherwise we would remain on a downward spiral,” the MEC said.
Those departments were at the coalface of service delivery, and ensuring their optimal function “forms part of our vision to develop a capable and ethical state”. Rodgers said the PFRP, which was launched by KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli in Durban on Wednesday, looked at turning around departments under “severe fiscal pressure”, including health, education, public works and social development. The recovery plan further seeks to strengthen collaboration with key stakeholders, including civil society and the business sector, to rebuild confidence in the province’s financial systems.
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