Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during the ANC national executive committee media briefing. Photo: Gallo Images/Daily Sun/Lucky Morajane
Minister Enoch Godongwana is deliveingr his maiden Budget speech, and has indicated that government debt is now R4.3 trillion and is expected to rise to R5.4 trillion over the medium-term.
Godongwana also announced plans for a ‘tough love’ approach to handling State Owned Enterprises, hinting that some may be done away with, and provided details of spending and proposals about how the priorities outlined in the President’s State of the Nation Address will be funded.
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The 2022 budget speech is the most significant ever, especially after President Cyril Ramaphosa shared positive signs of a change in policy direction during his State of the Nation Address (Sona).
The Citizen’s Ina Opperman asks: “Will Minister Godongwana show some of the ‘tough love’ he mentioned in his mid-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) for the state-owned entities (SOEs) and let go of underperforming ones that are no longer considered strategically relevant?”
READ MORE: Business ‘cautiously optimistic’ ahead of the Budget Speech
It also remains to be seen whether the finance minister will support Ramaphosa’s ideas, or side with the left on the debate around whether the private sector should lead job creation, and not the state, writes Erik Naki.
Meanwhile, there is an “undercurrent of gatvolness” in South Africa, with faith in government at an all-time low. Hein Kaiser writes: “Many South Africans have no idea who the current Minister of Finance is at all”.
That said, the Twittersphere is likely to erupt, and online analyst Carmen Murray tells The Citizen this could fuel socio-political instability.
READ MORE: South Africans couldn’t care less about the budget speech