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Set for presentation: Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana arriving at Parliament to deliver the budget. He is
flanked by South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago, left, and South African Revenue Service
commissioner Edward Kieswetter. Photo: GCIS

Budget: debt peaks but growth lags

The projected economic growth trajectory remains insufficient to address structural unemployment

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photo: Supplied by the  Government Communication and Information System (GCIS)

Economists split on whether 2026 budget marks a real turning point

The growth outlook is insufficient to alter unemployment dynamics, some argued

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

Godongwana trims spending, lowers growth forecast

In his third prepared budget for the year, the minister said government debt would still stabilise this year but at 77.4% of GDP, higher than predicted in March

A generator supplying power to a store is secured and locked to a traffic light during  load-shedding in the Linden district of Johannesburg. (Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

New fiscal ship needed to avoid icy waters

South Africa’s debt-to-GDP ratio must drop below 60%, meaning some conditions have to be met – and ensuring state-owned enterprises are effective is a priority

A protester holds up a poster at the Zuma Must Fall March in 2017. File photo

Corruption in South Africa is ‘more entrenched’

Analysts have highlighted the inability to prosecute key perpetrators of corruption as the country slip down the global Corruption Perception Index

To rebuild South Africa’s economy — in the wake of Covid-19’s onslaught — the country needs a stronger social compact, Trevor Manuel has said. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

‘We mustn’t tire’ — Manuel on South Africa’s economic recovery

During a webinar on Wednesday evening, the former finance minister said the country needs a stronger social compact and a more detailed recovery plan

South Africa today is a “two-speed society” – one part modern, affluent, technologically advanced, highly skilled, mobile, and increasingly multiracial; the other jobless, marginalised, unskilled, young, mostly rural, and largely black.

Colin Coleman: Beyond the ‘two-speed’ society

A 10-point plan for streamlining South Africa’s economy