Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo tabled the final Gauteng budget of the sixth administration on Tuesday. Opposition parties criticised it as electioneering.

In the last tabling of the annual budget for Gauteng's sixth administration, Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo revealed that the National Treasury had allocated Gauteng R165.8-billion for the 2024/25 financial year.

Mamabolo delivered his budget speech to a partially filled provincial legislature on Tuesday. He endured constant heckling from the Economic Freedom Fighters, whom the speaker of the legislature threatened to kick out.

Mamabolo started with an acknowledgement that the province faced severe financial constraints.

"This budget strikes a balance between the fiscal constraints that continue to be a drag on resource allocation and the protection of the social wage while at the same time striving towards the Gauteng of our dreams," he said.

Despite this, the social cluster (education/health and social development) took the lion's share of the budget, accounting for 83% of the allocation.

"Enhancing education, health and wellness and provision of social services to improve the overall quality of life for residents of Gauteng are at the heart of our functions as a provincial government and account for 83% of the 2024 MTEF [Medium-Term Expenditure Framework] budget that I table today," Mamabolo said.

Education

Mamabolo earmarked R65.8-billion in 2024/25 and R205.6-billion over the next three years for the...