Media release                                                                                                  24 November 2016

Financial statistics of consolidated general government, 2014/2015

The Financial statistics of consolidated general government, 2014/2015 report released by Statistics South Africa today shows that South Africa’s consolidated general government had a total income of R1,2 trillion from operating activities in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2015. This was R107,1 billion higher than the income received in the 2013/2014 financial year (R1,1 trillion). The increase in income was largely due to increases in taxes collected and ‘other receipts’. The largest contributor to total cash receipts from operating activities for the 2014/2015 fiscal year was taxes (R1,1 trillion), followed by other receipts (R138,5 billion).

Between the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 fiscal years, cash receipts from taxes increased by R94,0 billion, from R966,9 billion in 2013/2014 to R1,1 trillion in 2014/2015. This was mainly due to increases in taxes paid by individuals, value-added tax on goods and services and taxes paid by businesses. Other receipts received by the consolidated general government in 2014/2015 amounted to R138,5 billion, which is R12,1 billion more compared to 2013/2014 (R126,4 billion). The increase was mainly due to increases in sales of goods and services by the municipalities (rates and general services) (R3,8 billion) and universities (R3.0 billion) as well as an increase in interest received by the national government (R1,9 billion).

Total cash payments for operating activities by the consolidated general government increased by R98,4 billion, from R1,2 trillion in 2013/2014 to R1,3 trillion in 2014/2015. The largest contributor to cash payments was ‘compensation of employees’, which amounted to R514,6 billion, having increased by R40,6 billion from R473,9 billion in 2013/2014. The increase in expenditure on compensation of employees was mainly due to an increase in compensation of employees by the provincial governments (R18,1 billion), followed by the national government (R8,4 billion), municipalities (R7,7 billion), extra-budgetary accounts and funds (R4,0 billion) and higher education institutions (R2,4 billion).

Cash payments for purchases of goods and services increased by R15,4 billion, from R296,4 billion in 2013/2014 to R311,8 billion in 2014/2015. This was mainly due to increased purchases of goods and services by the municipalities (R7,3 billion), followed by the provincial governments (R5,9 billion), extra-budgetary accounts and funds (R1,3 billion) and higher education institutions (R0,9 billion).