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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. (Photo: Mlungisi Louw/Gallo Images)

Budget 2024: Jury’s still out on tax hikes

The budget is expected to lay out plans to raise R15bn in revenue, amid a commodity-induced slump This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free…

Unemployed men inJohannesburg wait on a street corner for work for part-time work. Photo: Naashon Zalk/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Fiscal Cliff | Shallow state purse deepens jobs crisis

In this instalment of The Fiscal Cliff – a Mail & Guardian series on how South Africa’s budget has been shaped – Sarah Smit considers the intimate link between the country’s…

The Nordic model holds some insight into how to close South Africa’s yawning income and wealth gap. Photographer: Tomi Setala/Bloomberg via Getty Images

From Helsinki to Joburg: Lessons in equality

The Nordic model holds some insight into how to close South Africa’s yawning income and wealth gap

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

Godongwana sticks to fiscal consolidation rule book

The minister underlined that in the wake of efforts to grow the economy, the government must respect budget constraint

South Africa’s economy expanded by a marginal 0.1% in the first quarter of 2025

Sovereign wealth fund needs a hero

The fund, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020, may have helped protect the fiscus from a long-term debt crisis

Late last week, the Social Policy Initiative released a statement revealing that it had called on Ramaphosa to urgently host an inclusive debate on South Africa’s macroeconomic priorities in the wake of recent media coverage. (Emmanuel DUNAND / POOL / AFP)

Fiscal manoeuvring stands to break trust

A cloak-and-dagger approach to macroeconomic policy could further hinder the state’s exercise in confidence-building

Head of treasury’s budget office Edgar Sishi said fiscal consolidation will have to be extended by at least another two years

Medium-term budget will leave big spenders out of pocket, says treasury

Head of treasury’s budget office Edgar Sishi said fiscal consolidation will have to be extended by at least another two years

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. (Photo: Mlungisi Louw/Gallo Images)

Public purse sees tail end of mining tailwind

Mining windfall helped SA’s financial position, but lower revenues and additional spending will delay the end of fiscal consolidation

The future of our healthcare system is in our hands; we approach it with responsibility, collaboration and a deep commitment to the well-being of all people.  (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

NHI’s murky economics adds to uncertainty

A scheme that makes for a better health system will also buoy the economy, but it is hard to say whether the NHI will get us there

Nehawu members protest outside George Tabor Technical College in Soweto on 8 March 2023. (Fani Mahuntsi/ Gallo Images)

Public sector crunch inflicts pain

The government is walking a tightrope as civil servants embark on industrial action over pay