The Gauteng Provincial Treasury recently launched a revenue enhancement strategy during a post-2022 Budget breakfast event held at the Future Africa Institute at the University of Pretoria (UP). The event was broadcast live on CNBC Africa. 

In her opening remarks, Professor Karin Barac, Deputy Dean of UP’s Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), said that the Faculty was honoured to be involved in the event. “We look for opportunities such as today that have the potential to lead to further research and other community development collaborations,” she said. “We are excited that this event is happening at Future Africa, because the Institute advocates collaborations and innovative thinking.”

The revenue enhancement strategy is anchored by two pillars and constitutes 16 revenue-generating projects. Pillar one entails maximising current revenue sources, such as motor vehicle licence fees, casino fees and interest on short-term investments of surplus funds. Pillar two focuses on new sources of revenue that need to be explored in order to increase the baseline, with a focus on closing loopholes and making use of technology to maximise revenue collection.

“The launch of the revenue strategy in the context of the 2022 Gauteng Budget provides a platform to share practical inputs for consideration towards maximising revenue collection to resource provincial priorities within a challenging environment of slow and uneven recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, Gauteng MEC for Finance and e-Government. “We want to stretch the rand to ensure that the impact of the provincial budget positively touches each household in Gauteng. By so doing, we will be continuing to implant hope in our people and make it possible for them to believe that their lives will be better than today and tomorrow.”

According to Ncumisa Mnyani of the Gauteng Provincial Treasury, the province has allocated R152.9 billion to various departments, with the Department of Education receiving R59.7 billion.

“Key intervention programmes are also being funded,” Mnyani said, “Such as a plan to fight gender-based violence; this includes a response plan worth R225.3 million.” Other programmes include a food insecurity intervention plan (R44.7 million), one that targets youth unemployment (R144.7 million), another that focuses on early childhood development (R2.1 billion), and a plan to implement information and communications technology (ICT) in schools (R2.7 billion). 

The MEC further indicated that ICT-enabled public service delivery offers an opportunity to improve efficiency and access to public services, and develops the transparency and accountability of governments. “Through the use of technology to improve the efficiency of revenue collection, we will introduce various initiatives, including cashless solutions at nature reserves, the online renewal of motor vehicle licences, automated visitor parking solutions at health facilities and liquor licence automation,” Nkomo-Ralehoko added.

Watch full session: