The Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Parliament delivering the Budget Speech 2026.
Image: Phando Jikelo/Parliament RSA
THE country’s HIV/AIDS programme received a major boost with the announcement that not only will R26 billion be allocated to provinces, 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will be reprioritised from the Department of Health over the medium term to offset research grant funding that was withdrawn by the United States.
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.
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.
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
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.
In his 2026 Budget Speech on Wednesday, Finance Minister Enoch 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.
Godongwana said that the compensation of employees continues to take up the lion's share of the health budget at 64.6%.
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from the Department of Health to the South African Medical Research Council to offset research grant funding withdrawn by the United States.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.
Cape Times