Government spending breaks R2-trillion mark: where the money went

The government spent R2.04-trillion in the 2022/2023 financial year, a rise of 6.1% from R1.92-trillion in 2021/2022, says Stats SA.

Just more than half of total expenses in the year from April 1 2022 to March 31 2023 was allocated to grants paid to other levels of government, institutions and foreign governments.

Of the R1.12-trillion paid to this category, provincial government was the main beneficiary, receiving almost two-thirds (or R694bn). South Africa’s provincial government departments are responsible for various functions, most notably health and education.

Extrabudgetary accounts and funds — public institutions responsible for delivering services to the public on behalf of government — received R180bn (or 16%) of grants, followed by local government (R151bn or 13%). Examples of extrabudgetary accounts and funds include the Road Accident Fund, the SA Revenue Service and the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Higher education institutions and foreign governments received about R50bn (or 4%) each. International institutions benefited from R4bn (or 0.4%).

The contribution of interest paid on debt increased from 10% in 2014/2015 to 15% in 2022/2023. In rand terms, interest paid on debt more than doubled in the 2014/2015 to 2022/2023 period, from R114.8bn to R308.5bn, an average growth rate of 13.2% per year.

Social benefits represented the third largest line item in 2022/2023 after grants and interest paid on debt, accounting for R242.4bn.

Most (96.7%) of this allocation was for the social grants programme, funding household grants for child support, old age, sickness and disability, among others. The remaining 3.3% was for employment-related social benefits.

Since 2014/2015, the social benefit allocation has grown by an average of 8.8% per year.

Stats SA said these financial statistics represent data collected from national government, not the broader general government which comprises national, provincial, local, extrabudgetary accounts and funds and institutions of higher learning.

Reports are scheduled to be published for extrabudgetary accounts and funds in August, provincial government in September, higher education institutions in October and consolidated general government in November.

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