WC Finance MEC hopes additional funds to education, health will help plug gaps
Earlier this year, more than 2,400 teaching posts were cut in the Western Cape because of a budget shortfall of R3.8 billion. Baartman re-tabled the Western Cape's 2025/26 budget on Tuesday, following the withdrawal of the national budget in March.
She said education and health would receive R100 billion each from the province's R269 billion budget over the next three years.
"It should be noted that Minister Godongwana announced additional funding for education and health in provinces. This funding will flow to provinces later in the year and does not form part of this budget. Once received, we will allocate the funding to the respective departments accordingly."
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The Citizen
6 days ago
- The Citizen
Eye Can Walk 5km/ 10km challenges runners
AS race day fast approaches, entries remain open for the Eye Can Walk 5km/ 10km Challenge on Sunday, August 24, from Suncoast Lawns in Durban. Scores of runners are expected to be part of the KZN Athletics accredited race, hosted by the KZN Blind and Deaf Society (KZNBDS). The race route is along the Durban beachfront promenade, which KZNBDS president Veetha Sewkuran said would be the perfect setting for the event. She said around 2000 runners will be part of the race which starts at 08:00. 'We are expecting both social and elite runners and walkers to be part of the challenge,' said Sewkuran. 'The race is accredited, there will be cash prizes and medals at the end.' The challenge was conceived by the organisation in 2017 as a means to raise awareness of, and to uplift, blind and deaf people. Over the years it has grown to be more than just an awareness fun walk. Sewkuran said despite the fast-paced growth of the event, the organisers have not deviated from its purpose. Also Read: Blind residents highlight Eye Can Walk 'It's a unique and good concept, running and raising awareness at the same time. The race has evolved over time and become more competitive to include other services such as a chiropractor, and having diabetes and high blood pressure checks,' said Sewkuran. 'The only thing that has changed this year is the venue, because there were issues of safety and parking. With us starting at Suncoast, it solves that issue.' The race is kids and pet friendly. All entrants will receive T-shirts and medals. The entry price for the 10km run ranges from R180 to R240, and the cost to participate in the 5km walk/run is R100. Tickets can be purchased via Webtickets or at Pick n Pay. Race pack collection is on Saturday, August 23, at Pirates Lifesaving Club from 09:00 to 16:00 and on Sunday from 06:30 to 07:30. For more information contact Anand Naicker on 083 783 6363 or Yegeshne Naidu on 031 309 4991 / 067 281 7782. For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here
The South African
08-08-2025
- The South African
Growing calls for SASSA grant recipients to be exempt from TAX
A latest deep dive into South Africa's tax revenue methodology makes a sound argument for SASSA grant beneficiaries being exempt from tax. By the same rationale, government employees should be exempt from tax, too. But why exactly? According to the latest tax revenue figures from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the country generated R1.1 trillion in 2024/2025. Of that, R267 billion was generated through personal income tax (PIT) and value-added tax (VAT) of SASSA grant recipients and government employees. The argument against tax exemption is that too many residents (45%) receive a SASSA grant of some sort. Image: File There is a perfectly sound argument that this amount going to SASSA beneficiaries and government employees should be exempt from tax. Roughly one quarter of South Africa's tax revenue is money the government pays out as it sees fit and then re-appropriates back to itself, reports Daily Investor . Therefore, economists and financial experts believe that government employees and SASSA grant recipients could just as well be exempt from tax. The argument being it's 'inefficient and wasteful' to pay SASSA grants using tax collections, only to tax a portion of the funds back into the fiscus. As of 2025, roughly 45% of the country's population receives a government grant of some sort. This accounts for the second highest spend of national budget, after debt servicing. The current tax approach merely moves 25% of the fiscus around 'wastefully' with no real benefit. Image: File However, the complexity and potential for fraud is ultimately what experts say makes this approach largely unfeasible. While SARS collected R1.1 trillion total revenue in 2024/2025, R762 billion was shelled out to SASSA grant recipients and government employees. At a personal income tax rate of 21.3%, government employees were responsible for R162 billion income generation. This is roughly 25% of all revenue received. Combined with VAT, the amount payable is more than R100 billion. This means government employees and social grant recipients are responsible for around 23% of all VAT receipts. While private consumption accounts for 77%. Total Personal Income Tax in 2024/2025 – R651 400 000 000 (100%) (100%) Private Employee Personal Income Tax – R488 988 565 000 (75%) (75%) Government Employee/SASSA Personal Income Tax – R162 411 435 000 (25%) Total VAT Receipts 2024/2025 – R447 600 000 000 (100%) (100%) VAT Receipts on Private Consumption – R342 576 718 725 (77%) (77%) VAT Receipts on Government Employees – R81 011 281 275 (18%) (18%) VAT Receipts on SASSA beneficiaries – R24 012 000 000 (5%) Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
31-07-2025
- The Citizen
Fixing SA's water woes means curtailing municipalities' free-spending ways
A look at two reforms that aim to thwart municipalities' spendthrift ways. The seemingly impossible task of preventing municipalities from spending water and electricity revenues on salaries and other services has been debated at national level for more than a decade. Now, it is finally receiving the attention it deserves. Two reforms in particular aim to curtail municipalities' spendthrift ways. National Treasury's amended Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) regulations came into effect in June, exempting infrastructure projects below R2 billion from some of the more cumbersome procurement processes. This will unlock opportunities at the municipal level, says Chito Siame, head of private equity at Mergence Investment Managers. 'In water, this could support more localised projects such as wastewater upgrades, pipe replacement, or alternative water sources in drought-prone areas,' says Siame. Read more BLSA welcomes approach to performance and accountability of municipalities 'Encouragingly, there is also movement on project preparation and financial structuring, supported by development finance institutions and the Infrastructure Fund. These reforms signal growing alignment between the public sector's development goals and the private sector's capacity to deliver at scale.' ALSO READ: Fixing SA's water crisis starts with accountability Ring-fencing and SPVs Another planned reform is to ring-fence electricity and water revenues at the municipal level to ensure funds are used specifically for maintaining and upgrading related infrastructure. In theory, municipalities are expected to spend 8% of their property, plant and equipment valuations on maintenance, but very few do. Some do close to zero. The result is visible across the country in untended water leaks, deteriorating roads and electricity outages. Municipalities owe Eskom close to R100 billion and a further R23.4 billion to SA's nine water boards. Revenues are being collected from residents and, in many cases, not paid over. Money is being used at a frightening rate to fund ever-larger salary bills and other services (including tenders). Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai, speaking at a PSG Think Big presentation this week, said the ring-fencing of municipal water revenues will go a long way to recovering the nearly R8 billion it is owed for bulk water services. 'Water services are highly profitable for municipalities, but these funds are used for other services. In the future it will be ring-fenced, and that will go a long way to servicing this debt.' Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke sees municipalities as a particularly weak link in the governance chain, with mayors, municipal councils and executive teams failing in their oversight duties. 'When councils are unstable, performance suffers, budgets go unfunded, and infrastructure crumbles,' said Maluleke at a recent press briefing. Kasief Isaacs, CEO of Creation Capital, which will launch an infrastructure fund later this year, says private sector partnerships are one way to fix municipal water issues, but these require special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to manage the service end-to-end and to preserve the water revenue stream. To function effectively, these SPVs must have their own management and budget. 'One of the problems we have faced up to now is around this issue of ring-fencing. Another issue is interdepartmental dependencies. You dig up a road to repair a broken pipe or need to procure a subcontract and are forced to rely on other departments for these services. Those interdependencies are difficult to manage. The SPV should be allowed to manage this entire process,' says Isaacs. ALSO READ: Rand Water maintenance deepens Joburg water crisis eThekwini breaks the ice In April, the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal announced it would follow National Treasury's guidance and ring-fence revenues from water sales to ensure it had sufficient budget to repair and maintain its water infrastructure, reduce non-revenue water and illegal connections, and repair leaks. Not surprisingly, eThekwini reports a significant reduction in water leaks and is now in the procurement stage to bring in a private sector partner to help reduce non-revenue water. There has been stiff opposition from the unions to the government's tentative embrace of PPPs, which are seen by some as a betrayal of the national democratic revolution. They would rather see municipalities better managed than handed over to private operators for profit. These fears are not unfounded, as customers of Thames Water in London discovered. It was privatised in 1989 and over the years paid out £10.4 billion in dividends while accumulating close to £20 billion in debt, much of which was used to fund these payouts rather than fix ageing infrastructure. By 2023, it was said to be close to financial collapse, prompting the UK government to consider nationalising it. 'Rather than viewing PPPs as a threat to municipal control, we should frame them as enablers, tools to deliver better outcomes, strengthen financial sustainability, and ensure that communities receive the reliable services they deserve,' says Siame. 'Standardised PPP templates, municipal support programmes and ring-fenced revenue models could go a long way to building trust and capability in this space.' In the future municipal water services could be run by water boards, private operators, or the municipalities themselves, provided they meet the standards required. The two privately run water systems operating in SA – Siza Water in Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal and Silulumanzi in Mbombela, Mpumalanga – have achieved enviable efficiencies, with water losses of 15-20% against the national average of 47%, all while supplying the 250 000 and 500 000 customers in both areas considered indigent – meaning they get free basic water. The question is, does SA have a water shortage or a leaking pipe problem? Actually, it has both. National rainfall is about half the global average, but nearly half the water distributed is lost to leaks and other problems. Non-revenue water – water that earns no revenue – exceeds 47% nationally, which is way ahead of the global average of 37%. The cost of this is conservatively estimated to be north of R7 billion a year. It simply leaks away, untreated and unbilled. The reasons are many: burst pipes, degraded infrastructure, broken pumps, and increasingly, sabotage. The water boards are generally well run, so the problem is happening at the municipal level. Moneyweb previously reported on criminal gangs deliberately destroying municipal infrastructure so the water mafias can sell water from tankers at extortionate rates – often with the connivance of councillors. ALSO READ: At least R900 billion needed to fix SA's water woes Operation Vulindlela The water issue also has the attention of President Cyril Ramaphosa's Operation Vulindlela, aimed at reforming key bottlenecks to promote faster economic growth. It's in the process of establishing a National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency to take over the functions, staff, and assets of the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, responsible for feeding water to Gauteng. This will be flanked by the appointment of a new Independent Economic Regulator for the water sector and the establishment of a Water Partnerships Office to assist in implementing performance-based contracts to reduce non-revenue water at six metros – eThekwini, Tshwane, Mangaung, Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay and Polokwane. Part of the funding for this will come from the newly created Infrastructure Fund, which ultimately aims to manage around R100 billion and disburse a range of financing options for infrastructure projects. Parliament is also reviewing the Water Services Amendment Bill, which aims to separate water service authorities (mainly municipalities responsible for water delivery) from water service providers (such as Rand Water, which supplies municipalities in bulk). Under the current Water Services Act, municipalities often act as both water service authorities and providers, meaning they regulate themselves. This leads to weak oversight, poor accountability, and mismanagement. The evidence shows they frequently fail to enforce performance standards such as water quality or address inefficiencies like non-revenue water losses. All of this will hopefully culminate in municipalities being stripped of many of the powers and privileges that helped create the national water crisis in the first place. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
