KwaZulu-Natal’s government said on 29 October that the overspend it expects at the end of its financial year has shrunk by about R7.2 billion since June 2024.
According to the provincial government, the projected overspend was R9.725 billion in June 2024, set against a main budget of R150.488 billion. At the end of September 2026 it was about R2.5 billion. The province put the gap between the two at R7.225 billion, or 74%. Both numbers are the province’s own projections, not audited results.
The province credited tighter spending controls, better cash management and a Provincial Financial Recovery Plan. Finance MEC Francois Rodgers said: “We are spending more responsibly while protecting essential services.” He said the recovery is not yet finished and will take sustained discipline, consistency and institutional reform.
What is still pulling on the budget
The province listed health, public works and education as the departments where spending pressure continues. Its list of causes: bills carried over from earlier years, employee costs, infrastructure commitments and unpaid obligations.
It also pointed to earlier cuts in its allocation from National Treasury, and to mandates that come without enough funding or with none. The national picture is in our report on the medium-term budget, which sets what Treasury plans to give provinces and municipalities.
Source: KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, as reported by SAnews, 29 October 2026. Chart: Rand Desk
Services the province points to
The province paired the fiscal numbers with a list of delivery results. These are its claims, and the statement does not show how they were measured.
The province said it came first nationally in the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations, with a 90.6% pass rate. It said 70 of 100 planned capital projects were finished by the national public works department in the province, supporting roughly 5,000 jobs, and that the Expanded Public Works Programme created 128,906 work opportunities.
On health, it reported more than 4,000 community health workers on full-time contracts and 44 additional ambulances, plus more than 240 nurses and 238 doctors. About 1.1 million patients on chronic medication collect it near home through its Ikhemisi Eduze Nawe programme. It said 1.57 million people receive antiretroviral treatment, and that more than 210,000 who had stopped were traced and returned to care.
The statement gave no date by which the province expects to finish a year without an overspend, and it did not say what the 2026 main budget is, so the R2.5 billion cannot be set against it here. The province’s audited financial statements will show the actual position once the year closes. For other recent provincial and municipal money stories, see our report on unpaid pension contributions at municipalities.
