By Sihle Mavuso
KwaZulu-Natal’s departments of education and health face deductions from future budget allocations after the provincial Treasury tabled a bill to recover more than R1 billion in historic unauthorised expenditure.
The recovery forms part of the KwaZulu-Natal Second Unauthorised Expenditure Authorisation Bill, 2026, tabled by Finance MEC Francois Rodgers in the provincial legislature on Thursday.
The Department of Education faces the largest repayment, of about R955 million, while the Department of Health, faces a repayment of about R91 million.
The deductions are expected to be made over seven financial years.
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“Where departments have overspent their budgets, they should rightfully pay those amounts back to the Revenue Fund, as they spent money they did not have and were effectively operating in overdraft,” Rodgers told the legislature.
“The money must be repaid and, more importantly, controls should be implemented to prevent the same situation from recurring.
“Consequence management should be considered where there has been blatant financial misconduct by government officials,” he said.
Rodgers said the unauthorised expenditure that was not condoned would be recovered through future budget allocations.
“This, in effect, is a reduction in the budget of these departments and will be implemented over a period of seven years, given the fiscal constraints and the need to limit the impact on service delivery.”
The bill follows recommendations by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), which considered unauthorised expenditure incurred by provincial departments over several financial years.
Under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), unauthorised expenditure includes spending more than the amount appropriated for a vote or programme, or spending funds for purposes not approved by the legislature.
The move comes as the Department of Education is already under a Provincial Treasury intervention in terms of section 18 of the PFMA, after sustained cash-flow and financial governance problems.
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Under that intervention, the department’s spending is subject to tighter Treasury oversight. The department has faced pressure from unpaid commitments, compensation costs and operational demands, raising concerns about its ability to fund core services while settling old obligations.
The Auditor-General previously flagged KZN education as one of the departments that had incurred unauthorised expenditure for several consecutive years.
The bill records that part of the education department’s overspending related to infrastructure repairs after storm damage in 2019.
“Infrastructure Development reflects over-expenditure against goods and services due to higher property maintenance costs relating to the repair of schools damaged by storms in 2019 as the magnitude of damage was worse than anticipated,” the bill says.
The department also recorded over-expenditure in programmes including Administration, Public Ordinary School Education, Public Special School Education, Early Childhood Development and Infrastructure Development.
The bill says over-expenditure in Early Childhood Development was linked to pressure on compensation of employees following substantial budget reductions.
The Department of Health’s unauthorised expenditure dates back to the 2019/20 financial year and was linked to increased costs for the provision of HIV/Aids medication.
The bill will still have to proceed through the legislature’s law-making process.
