Dr Esther Mahlangu and MEC Leah Mabuza.
The MEC for the Department of Culture, Sport & Recreation, Leah Mabuza, delivered the budget for the 2025/2026 financial year on Thursday, July 24.
The budget, delivered under the theme “Mpumalanga, a Province that works for all,” is dedicated to this year’s Mandela Month.
Mabuza highlighted the Department’s key endeavors: social cohesion, promoting cultural diversity, preserving landscape heritage, and enhancing sports development. These align with the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP 2024-2029) and the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP).
The total budget for 2025/26 is R812,298,000.
Vision of the Department of Culture, Sport & Recreation (DCSR):
- Exploring the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
- Strengthening Africa’s voice against continental wealth expropriation.
- Establishing a policy framework to protect content ownership and copyright of local artists.
Challenges:
- Provincial unemployment and poverty rates are 37.4% and 51.2%, respectively. Youth unemployment stands at 51.3%, with young women facing a particularly high rate of 68.6%.
- Sustainable Development Goals.
- Afro-pessimism.
- Racism in sport and gender equity.
The Department’s mandate is to leverage sports, culture, and recreation to address socioeconomic challenges while fostering nation-building.
The DCSR will continue to promote Cultural & Sport Tourism and Economic Development through high-impact cultural and sporting events.
Sport Flagship Initiatives:
- Nashua Loskop Marathon – the 3rd biggest in the country.
- Nelspruit Marathon (Kaapsehoop 3-in-1).
- Bella’s Athletic Club (Makhonjwa Mountain Marathon).
- Mbombela Open Tennis Tournament.
- Mpumalanga Annual Sport Awards.
- Imizamo Yabagibeli Horse Riders.
- International rugby match between RSA and Georgia at Mbombela Stadium.
- Preservation of Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s legacy works.
- Kgodwana Cultural Centre to be used as an Art and Craft training centre and for Amakhosi events.
Future Projects:
- Private Partnerships (PPP) across mega infrastructure projects, namely a High Altitude Training Centre, Multi-Purpose Arena, Cultural Hub, and libraries.
- Working with the South African Library for the Blind (SALB) and introducing library buses.
- Uninterrupted power supply (UPS), internet access, and Wi-Fi.
- Completion of construction of the 7ML Reservoir and 3.5ML Waste Water Treatment Plant for Emakhazeni.
- Completion of the Cultural Hub and additional libraries in rural areas.
- Maintenance and renovation of provincial and local museums.
- Supporting the South African Gold Panning Association National Gold Panning Championships.
- Supporting rugby, soccer, Mkhondo Horse Racing, boxing, and Lowveld Walkers.
- Embracing the digital revolution.
- Storing 30 years of democracy documents.
- Managing Provincial Archives.
- Supporting school sports.
- Launching the Steve Tshwete Boxing Tournament.
- Awards for excellence.
The total infrastructure and maintenance budget for 2025/26 is R91,061,000:
- Cultural Infrastructure Projects – R5,000,000.
- Library and Archives Infrastructure – R35,000,000.
- Sport & Recreation Infrastructure and tourism marketing – R51,060,000.
- Promotion of multi-linguism – R7,000,000. Here’s the fixed grammar and an expansion on the requested statistics.
