Despite overspending by some R360 million, KwaZulu-Natal's provincial government still managed to end the 2011/12 financial year with a budget surplus.
Finance MEC Ina Cronje said on Friday that apart from setting aside a R948 million contingency fund, the provincial government exceeded its own revenue collection targets by R760 million.
This, together with the contingency fund, left the provincial government with a net surplus of about R1.34 billion.
In a statement issued after addressing the provincial legislature, Cronje said five departments had contributed to R78.7 billion being spent, compared to the budget of R78.2 billion for 2011/12.
The bulk of the over-expenditure occurred in the education department. It exceeded its allocation by R591 million.
The health department exceeded its budget by R130 million , while the transport department overspent by R6.5 million.
The Royal Household over-spent by R489,000 and the provincial arts and culture department by R68,000.
Most of the education department's over-expenditure was related to additional personnel costs.
The other 11 departments under-spent their budgets.
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