The Gauteng provincial government (GPG) has tabled a strategy aimed at boosting the collection of current revenue sources and enhancing the potential for new sources, without impacting negatively on service delivery and taking into consideration the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown regulations over the past two years.

The ‘GPG Own Revenue Enhancement Strategy’, aims to unlock the funds needed for the seven provincial priorities, including health, education and facilitating economic growth and job creation in a challenging economic and fiscal environment, outlined in the ‘Growing Gauteng Together’ roadmap.

Gauteng Finance and eGovernment MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, during a post-2022 Budget Breakfast held in Pretoria on Tuesday, said that the revenue strategy is anchored around the two pillars, namely the optimisation of current revenue streams and exploration of new sources of revenue to augment Gauteng’s revenue baseline.

The strategy also aims to modernise in an effort to increase efficiency, cost-effectiveness and client satisfaction, as well as eliminate loopholes in collection mechanisms.

It comprises 16 identified revenue-generating projects, with pillar one maximising current revenue sources such as motor vehicle license fees, casino and horse racing fees, patient fees and interest on the short term investment of surplus funds, while pillar two, in addition to new sources of revenue, will focus on closing loopholes and modernisation to ensure maximum revenue collection.

New revenue initiatives were identified based on an assessment of the potential to increase revenue through these sources without impacting negatively on service delivery and include the establishment of new vehicle impound lots, the licensing fees of private health facilities, road-side advertising and billboards on government-owned facilities, besides others.

“Information and communication technology-enabled public service delivery offers an opportunity to improve efficiency and access to public services and develops the transparency and accountability of governments,” she said, noting that, through the use of technology to improve the efficiency of revenue collection, GPG will introduce the automation of gambling operations; cashless solutions at nature reserves; the online renewal of motor vehicle licences; automated visitor parking solutions at health facilities; liquor licence automation; and an incentive promotion of motor vehicle licence holders.

Other new revenue potential projects identified in the Revenue Strategy include the Gauteng Broadband Network commercialisation, whereby revenue could be generated through third-party offtake for spare capacity generated through Gauteng broadband infrastructure, and e-waste, with revenue expected from repurposing, recycling and licensing of old or scrap electronic material to extract value.

Through the Revenue Enhancement Strategy, GPG’s overall aim is to increase the revenue generated from the province over the next three years by R3.7-billion over and above the 2022 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework revenue baseline estimates.