​Lerato Mailoane
Gauteng MEC for Finance and e-Government, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko has tabled a budget of 142.6 billion budget billion for the 2021/22 aimed at providing resources to fight COVID-19 and support economic development and job creation. 
Presenting the 2021/22 Gauteng Provincial Budget to the Gauteng provincial legislature on March 11 2021, Nkomo-Ralehoko said the largest share of the budget has been allocated for social services delivered by Gauteng's departments of Health, Education and Social Development.
The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budget focuses on defeating the COVID-19 pandemic; reigniting the Gauteng economy with an emphasis on job creation through reindustrialisation; refocussing social policy to address crime while confronting poverty and inequality; as well as improving and expanding service delivery while improving governance and oversight. 
"A total of R5.9 billion in new money has been allocated over the 2021 MTEF, the bulk of which will be focusing on defeating the COVID-19 pandemic.  Consideration has also been given to the vaccine rollout, which will be resourced through an injection of nearly R565 million in conditional grant funding," the MEC said.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will receive a one-off amount of R20-million for the Ward-Based COVID-19 Response Committees. 
Given the severely constrained fiscus and the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the MEC said: "There must be a concerted effort to curb wastage, irrespective of whether it is in the procurement of movable or immovable assets, or goods and services. Inflated prices, variations, compensation events and non-completion of infrastructure projects can no longer be the norm". 
To re-ignite the economy, the MEC has, amongst other things, allocated R14.4 billion in 2021/22 towards economic services. 
In addition, the MEC said: "Over the 2021 MTEF, Gauteng Provincial Government will be investing a total of R35.3 billion in social and economic infrastructure. Of this amount, R34.3 billion goes to the departments of Human Settlements, Health, Education and Roads and Transport while the remaining R1 billion is allocated to the departments of Social Development, Agriculture & Rural Development, Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation and Infrastructure Development." 
MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko said Gauteng is committed to improve educational and health outcomes, fight crime and protect the most vulnerable sections of the population against urban poverty and hunger. 
"The 'new normal' brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more and more necessary that we adapt our ways of doing things. A critical component of this is through the use of ICT to deliver the curriculum, and over the MTEF, a total of R1.2 billion will be allocated to augment already existing resources in the Gauteng Department of Education baseline towards ensuring that ICT learning starts being rolled out to lower grades.
To continue the provision of care and protection of the homeless in collaboration with municipalities and other stakeholders, the Department of Social Development has been allocated R84 million. 
"The Gauteng Department of Community Safety will be receiving a total of R92 million over the MTEF. These resources are aimed at augmenting the department's operational budget, together with a once-off allocation towards the infrastructure-related elements of the e-Policing Strategy that is an integral part of the GGT2030 priority addressing Safety, Social Cohesion and Food Security," the MEC said.
To fight fraud and corruption and promote transparency,  a report was published last the 6th COVID-19 Expenditure Disclosure Report last week, detailing how much money was spent procuring goods and services related to the fight against the pandemic by each department. 
"This report will be released monthly on the provincial government portal for scrutiny by the public," she said.