By Lwazi Raul-Shongwe and Kopano Dibakwane
In a bid to introduce the private sector to the provincial MTDP(Medium-Term Development Plan) and the budget priorities for the 2025/26 financial year, Mpumalanga Premier-Mandla Ndlovu, hosted the Post-Budget Breakfast Session in Mbombela on Wednesday 19 March 2025.
The Premier’s address focused on infrastructure and skills development, support for SMMEs(Small Micro and Medium Enterprises), as well as digital economy, amongst other key factors.
“ Our people are poor here in Mpumalanga. More than 50% of the people of this province are living below the datum line. 37% of our people are unemployed. What is worse is when youth unemployment is exponentially increasing. It is a ticking time bomb. Our youth graduates are unable to be absorbed by our industries, while the cost of living is extremely high,” said Premier Ndlovu.
Ndlovu made a clarion call to the private sector stakeholders to invest in strategic government projects, as he believes that the Provincial Budget of R66 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, as tabled by Finance MEC(Bonakele Majuba) on Tuesday 18 March 2025, is inadequate to cater for all key priorities of the provincial government.
“ We urged you to invest in infrastructure that supports industrial growth such as roads, water, sewer, power, ICT(Information Communication Technology), training and skills development, to ensure that the workforce has the requisite skills needed for industries of the future,” said Premier Ndlovu.
He added that debt service costs amounted to R389.6 billion over the previous financial year, which translates to 22 cents of every rand the country raises in revenue.
Ndlovu said the province is targeting large scale infrastructure investments to achieve socio-economic objectives of 35% poverty rate, 25% unemployment rate, and to drastically reduce inequality by the year 2029.
The Premier revealed that the province is facing economic challenges such as high unemployment rate especially amongst the youth, dependency on mining especially coal mining which suffers from demand instability caused by poor logistics and international market-price fluctuations, high rates of poverty and inequality amongst townships and rural communities, skills mismatch, inadequate infrastructure, as well as environmental concerns.
“ We have long acknowledged that government alone cannot meet the demands of our social and economic infrastructure. We are imagining a future where government will mobilise private-sector financing and technical expertise to upscale and strengthen public investment management and the associated value chain,” Premier Ndlovu said.
