E-toll debt to be absorbed, e-toll is over: Lesufi

[File photo] An e-tolls gantry on the highway in Gauteng.

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Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the Gauteng government will absorb the e-toll debt and they will continue to service it.

Reacting to the Gauteng budget delivered by the Province’s MEC for Economic Development, Panyaza has assured Gauteng residents that e-tolling is a thing of the past. He says residents are not even receiving e-toll bills.

He has further confirmed that they have gone to the Development Bank of Southern Africa for a loan to be able to service the shortfall on e-tolls.

Public healthcare

MEC Lebogang Maile says the budget allocated to the Health Department must be used to strengthen public healthcare facilities across the province and enhance patient care.

The department has been allocated R66 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year.

“The Gauteng Department of Health’s 2025/2026 financial year allocation amounts to R66 billion, and a total of R209.1 billion over the MTEF, to strengthen the public health system to deliver patient-centred, equitable care, particularly in under-served communities through the modernisation of infrastructure, digitisation of health records, improving governance mechanisms and capacity building to tackle effectively both communicable and non-communicable diseases.”

Maile has tabled a half-a-trillion-rand budget over three years for the Gauteng provincial government.

Education

Gauteng Education Department received the biggest allocation of more than R69 billion for the 2025/26 financial year.

“The 2025 MTEF Budget for the Gauteng Provincial Government that we are tabling today amounts to over half a trillion Rand – R527.2 billion to be precise – over the medium term. It grows at an annual average of 3% from R171.5 billion in 2025/26 to R175.1 billion in 2026/27 before reaching R180.5 billion in 2027/28 financial year.”

Maile says the R69 billion allocated to education will go towards expanding access to quality basic education and early childhood development.

“In the 2025/2026 financial year, the Gauteng Department of Education receives R69.6 billion, and cumulatively R211.2 billion over the MTEF, to expand access to quality basic education and early childhood development (ECD) and improve education outcomes for women, girls, youth, and persons with disabilities.”

#GPSOPA2025 | The 2025 MTEF Budget is characterised by compulsory baseline reductions across all @GautengProvince departments & entities to accommodate the downward revision of the Provincial Equitable Share. #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/HKYo84gWYP

— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) March 18, 2025