TSHWANE - The State of the Province Address is due to be delivered by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi on Monday evening at the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ).
The SOPA marks the opening of the Gauteng legislature, while the premier's speech will reflect on the performance and priorities for the Provincial Government for the year ahead.
But what were the promises made in 2024's SOPA and how did the provincial government deliver on those promises?
In 2024, Premier Lesufi's SOPA carried the tagline, "Less talk, more work" and was focused on delivering on the plan launched in 2020 under the banner "Growing Gauteng Together".
Some of the provincial priorities outlined in 2024 were:
- Crime and community safety
- Economic acceleration
- State capacity
Crime and Community Safety
Premier Panyaza Lesufi said, "During the sixth administration, we framed our response to crime within the Growing Gauteng Together (GGT2030) Provincial Strategy, supported by a coherent and integrated 5-year Gauteng Policing Plan with an increase in resource allocation."
He said the government was committed to increasing the budget allocated to the Department of Community Safety from R750 million to R2.7 billion. Lesufi also praised SAPS initiatives like Operation Shanela and Okae Molao.
Illegal mining has continued to be a scourge on community safety in Gauteng. High-profile cases like the Stilfontein scandal that saw over 1,000 illegal miners trapped underground in abandoned mine shafts brought attention to the ongoing issue.
Communities in areas like Riverlea in Johannesburg, continue to call on authorities to crack down on illegal mining.
Community safety is of special concern to Gauteng residents, particularly following the release of the 2024 crime statistics that showed the province remains a national crime hotspot.
Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal are the provinces with the highest murder rates in South Africa.
The crime prevention warden flagship project has shown mixed results since its inception in 2023. The peace officers, sometimes referred to as "amaPanyaza" have been a target of political criticism.
DA leader John Steenhuisen referred to the wardens as "drunkards" in January 2024.
After the death of Eldorado Park crime-prevention warden, Chesnay Keppler, Lesufi accused SAPS leadership of "failing to honour her family and face the community."
#GPSOPA2025 | Premier Panyaza @Lesufi will deliver the State of the Province Address (SOPA) on 24 February 2025, in Tshwane. The SOPA also marks the opening of the @GPLegislature. Live broadcasts will be carried across @GautengProvince digital media platforms. pic.twitter.com/C3xn9I5BAB
— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) February 19, 2025
Economic acceleration
Lesufi's 2024 SOPA cited Stats SA and said, "The economy of Gauteng is now bigger than the economy of the Western Cape, KZN and Limpopo combined. Compared to other provinces, Gauteng has the largest number of employed people at around 5 million."
A report published in the Development Southern Africa journal in 2025 stated that South Africa’s eight metros have seen very little growth in jobs over the last decade.
Factories in the manufacturing sector in all three Gauteng metros have been shedding jobs according to the report by Justin Visagie and Professor Ivan Turok from the University of the Free State.
The Infrastructure Development Department launched an Infrastructure Delivery Platform to enable the fast-tracking of stalled projects in Gauteng, in October of 2024.
Lesufi's 2024 SOPA said, "As part of reclaiming our spaza shops, we have refurbished over 3,000 spaza shops across the Gauteng townships; and established a digital township business register database with over 20,000 township businesses already captured."
Following the tragic deaths of over 20 children, spaza shop owners nationwide were instructed to register with the government or face closure. Over 500 spaza shops were closed for non-compliance by Gauteng provincial authorities in October of 2024.
Entrepreneurs operating in the township economy have also called out to the government for a strengthening of regulations.
WATCH | Gauteng Premier Lesufi talks spaza shops, food safety and child deaths
Tourism was earmarked as an area for economic growth and attention in the 2024 SOPA. The premier said the Visit Gauteng Campaign: Zwakala would showcase the province's tourism attraction potential to visitors.
The Gauteng government launched plans to fight crime in key hotspots in September last year and ran several campaigns championing historical and cultural attractions like Vilakazi Street in Soweto.
#GPSOPA2025 | Dry run ahead of the State of the Province Address (SOPA) to be delivered by Premier @Lesufi in Tshwane tomorrow, Monday, 24 February 2025. The SOPA also marks the opening of the @GPLegislature. #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/IobFivyIDp
— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) February 23, 2025
State Capacity
In 2024, the Premier restated a commitment to a "clean and accountable government with enhanced compliance to prevent unnecessary, irregular, and wasteful spending."
"In the 2022/23 financial year, the province obtained 6 clean audits from the Departments of Office of the Premier, Education, Economic Development, E-Government, Finance and COGTA and a further 11 clean audits from various provincial entities," he said.
Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile admitted to eNCA in December of 2024 the province still does not have a handle on corruption. In fact, it's only managed to recoup 2.3% of money lost to graft.
Maile, also said most municipalities in Gauteng still don't comply with procurement legislation after the Auditor-General's report on local government audit outcomes.
Midvaal is the only municipality out of the 11 in Gauteng that achieved a clean audit.
While the premier's speech said, "We are continuing to restore the public trust in our health system, and we beginning to see significant improvement in the provision of healthcare services in a number of our healthcare facilities," the provincial government's healthcare challenges were often in the spotlight in 2024.
Civil society groups and Gauteng Health clashed in court over unspent cancer treatment funds.
The Department has admitted to returning R250 million allocated for cancer treatment in 2023 to Treasury.
Gauteng health facilities made headlines for snaking queues, dilapidated infrastructure and questionable hygiene standards in September of last year.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko spoke candidly with eNCA in November 2024, about a shortage of health inspectors, particularly in the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metros.
The premier also outlined steps the province would be taking on the road to the NHI, saying, "In preparation for the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI), we are increasing the capacity of our healthcare system in the province by acquiring 18 existing hospitals through a private-public partnership."
Gauteng Health said the department is working to improve conditions at its public facilities. In September of 2024, hospitals in Gauteng had recorded over 2,000 adverse incidents.
Another key area of provincial capacity is basic services like water and sanitation.
Gauteng's municipal services have left much to be desired for residents despite Lesufi's promises in the 2024 SOPA, where he said, "We are ready to intervene where municipalities cannot render services to our communities. We are in an advanced stage of signing an agreement with Pikitup so that wherever there is uncollected refuse and dumping our province will step in and collect. This also goes to flowing sewerage and water where we will ask Rand Water and Rand West Municipality to assist us."
Water supply challenges for Gauteng residents have been an ongoing issue in 2024. The DA has laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the Joburg Council and called for the Gauteng government to declare a disaster in order to help residents urgently.
The premier also promised the people of Gauteng that e-tolls would soon be a thing of the past. He said, "I am happy to report that on the 26th of January 2024, a final meeting was held between the Gauteng Provincial Government and the Ministers of Finance and Transport respectively."
"We have been able to find common ground on issues related to user pay principle quantum of GFIP Debt, quantum of sunken CAPEX costs, CAPEX obligation of the province, yearly maintenance Costs of GFIP 1, repurposing of Gantries, repayment of SANRAL GFIP 1 Debt and the Future Funding of GFIP 2 & 3. From where we sit as the province, we remain confident that we should be able end e-tolls by March 2024."
Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile warned in November 2024, e-toll debt would strain already limited resources. Gauteng's Treasury has made its first payment to Sanral of about R3.8-billion and for the next five years, the province will have to allocate substantial funds each year to meet the repayment obligations. Maile cautioned that the Gauteng government could find itself R6 billion in debt by June 2025.
Last year, the premier said, "Less talk, more work!"
Do you think he delivered?