Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced that R26 billion will be allocated to provinces to bolster their HIV/AIDS programme.
Image: Tumi Pakkies / Independent Newspapers
Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, has announced that not only will R26 billion be allocated to provinces to bolster HIV/AIDS programme, but R410 million will be reprioritised from the Department of Health over the medium term to offset research grant funding that was withdrawn by the United States.
The news came on Wednesday, when Godongwana delivered the 2026 Budget Speech.
Previously, several HIV/AIDS programmes and research had been affected when the United States announced it was withdrawing the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) funding. This dominated headlines last year.
Pepfar-funded HIV organisations receiving grants from the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, were notified in February 2025 that their grants had been terminated.
Since Pepfar’s inception in 2003, the US government invested over $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, saving over 25 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and supporting several countries to achieve HIV epidemic control, all while significantly strengthening global health and economic security.
Godongwana said that the allocation of R26 billion will assist programmes such as the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and the provision of antiretrovirals.
“As part of the targeted and responsible savings initiative, provinces will repurpose some of their funding to meet obligations towards Pepfar.
“R21.3 billion is allocated to the health sector over the medium term for the compensation and employment of doctors, and to make up for shortfalls in goods and services expenditure,” Godongwana said.
Spending on health will also grow by 4.2% to R334.3 billion in 2028/29. Primary healthcare, delivered through district health services, provides the most accessible and cost-effective care, and 44.4 % of the health budget is allocated to this.
The minister said that the compensation of employees continues to take up the lion's share of the health budget at 64.6%.
“Government seeks to enhance efficiency in this area through better management of commuted overtime and rural allowances. The Minister of Health has appointed an advisory committee to recommend amendments to key human resources policies and practices.
“These and other savings measures will enable the sector to reprioritise funds to deal with existing pressures and respond to emerging service delivery needs and priorities,” he said.
“Over the medium term, R410 million will be reprioritised from the Department of Health to the South African Medical Research Council to offset research grant funding withdrawn by the United States. This allocation forms part of a co-funding arrangement with global donors to sustain key HIV/AIDS research programmes.
“A further R24 million is reprioritised over the MTEF (Medium-Term Expenditure Framework) period towards the Office of Health Standards Compliance to enable it to fill critical posts and increase the number of health facility inspections conducted each year,” Godongwana said.
Expenditure is projected to increase at an average annual rate of 3%, from R65.9 billion in 2025/26 to R72 billion in 2028/29.
Reallocations within the department’s baseline support emerging policy priorities. These include research funding to the South African Medical Research Council (R410 million over the MTEF period) for which donor funding from the United States government was withdrawn in 2025, and to the Office of Health Standards Compliance (R24 million over the MTEF period) to retain critical staff, including contracted inspectors, on a permanent basis.
Tygerberg Hospital.
Image: File
“These reallocations are mainly funded through the implementation of the National Treasury’s targeted and responsible savings initiative, where savings were identified in goods and services in the Administration, and HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Maternal, Child and Women’s Health programmes.
Additional allocations of R176.7 million in 2026/27 and R41.5 million in 2027/28 have been made to the health facility revitalisation grant for Tygerberg/Belhar (Western Cape) and Klipfontein (Gauteng) regional hospitals through the budget facility for infrastructure.