By Thivanni Naidoo
The Democratic Alliance has said that they’re cautiously happy about the budget that’s been tabled by Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana. This is after they had taken him to court over the then proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) increase which will no longer be the case.
“This is not an austerity budget but an expenditure budget,” Minister Godongwana started his speech.
Godongwana then went on to say that South Africa’s projected growth is now at 1,4% and not the 1,9% mentioned in March. He then mentioned that with economic stability comes a promotion of lower inflation as he addresses the concern of the increase of inflation from March’s 2.7% to April’s 2.8%.
Infrastructure development will get a boost of over R1 trillion for the next 3 years. These are projects such as transport and logistics, water and sanitation as well as energy. The Democratic Alliance said they’re happy about that too.
Early childhood development sees an allocation of R10 billion which is an extension of R19.1 billion also allocated over the medium term to keep over 11 000 teachers in schools and hire more staff.
There will be no bailouts for state owned enterprises. Recently, the South African Broadcasting Corporation had mentioned that it might need more money after receiving a bailout of R3 billion a few years ago.
R845 billion has been allocated to provincial healthcare budgets with a further R20.8 billion allocated to keep workers in hospitals, employ doctors and purchase essential medicines. This allocation will be over a 3 year period. Grants for the elderly and people with disabilities will see an increase of R130 whilst the foster care grant will increase by R70. The child support grant will go up by R30.
Then there will be an extension of the social relief grant to March 2026.
“We should push revenue in the medium term,” Minister Godongwana said.
He also encourages South Africans to pay their taxes whilst also thanking all taxpayers by expressing that the tax paid will further encourage economic growth of the country.
While some members of parliament expressed their satisfaction for the budget speech proposed, many members voiced their doubts as well as opposition to a few proposed expenditures and allocations. I think it’s fair and we do desperately need infrastructure development, so I am 100% with the minister on this,” said Asothie Reddy, a pensioner who accepts the budget speech and further stated that she thinks this will definitely uplift the economy.
Some on the other hand, were quick to shut it down. “You’re still taking from the poor. Why must there be an increased fuel levy? He’s giving us no increase to the 15% for VAT but still taking his money back in other ways. I’m not with the minister on this one,” Devika Naidoo of the Chatsworth community says.
For others, they expressed their neutrality towards the budget speech. “I feel like it’s a fair budget, of course we have a lot of debt on our hands but I’m sure the minister has taken that into account before allocating funds,” says Naledi Moses of Richards Bay.
The biggest question for many South Africans is if this budget will effectively stabilise our economy and boost enough revenue to settle our pending debts whilst also creating a country that is stable enough in the eyes of our international alliances.
