Katlego Sekhu

In his budget speech yesterday, Gauteng’s MEC for Finance, Jacob Mamabolo, announced that the province has reached out to financial institutions to borrow the necessary funds to pay off the e-toll debt. Additionally, they will be tackling over R4 billion in maintenance backlogs.
During the speech, Mamabolo reiterated Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s recent announcement that the province will cover 30% of the cost of getting rid of e-tolls. Now that it’s official, how do you feel about this decision? We want to hear your thoughts!
Our news anchor, Mfundo Mabalane, mentioned that we have taken on 30 percent of the debt burden, with Treasury graciously agreeing to cover the remaining 70 percent. However, that 30 percent now amounts to 13 billion. The MEC stated that they will be seeking assistance from financial institutions for a portion of that 13 billion, leaving us with 4 billion to handle.
She emphasized that this is still a significant amount of money. “It makes you wonder – even if they borrow more, will it lead to higher debt payments for Gauteng? And what about the impact on healthcare and education funding? Will it be compromised?”
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