South Africa: Fleshy Budget 2025 Speech by Minister Godongwana

Honourable Speaker, Thoko Didiza Deputy Speaker, Annelie Lotriet
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Refiloe Mtshweni-Tsipane Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Les Govender
His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa Honourable, the Deputy President Paul Mashatile Cabinet Colleagues
Participants of the Executive Council for Finance Honourable Participants
Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Commissioner of the South African Earnings Provider Fellow South Africans

I genuinely appreciate the honour to desk the following paperwork sooner than this Dwelling:
The 2025 Division of Earnings Bill; The 2025 Appropriation Bill;
The 2025 Eskom Debt Relief Amendment Bill;
The 2025 Public Sector Pension and Linked Payments Bill; The 2025 Earnings Licensed pointers Amendment Bill;
The 2025 Estimates of National Expenditure; The 2025 Budget Review; and
The 2025 Budget Speech.

INTRODUCTION

Madam Speaker,

The postponement of the tabling of the Budget three weeks within the past modified into a regrettable, but presumably an understandable characteristic of multiparty governance.

It is a signal of a maturing and resilient democracy.

The extend has stimulated an unparalleled level of public debate about the gorgeous coverage trade-offs we, as a nation, face.
A well-known debate about which policies to fund and fund them. About which priorities to pursue now, and which of them we could maybe moreover want to extend within the context of our restricted resources.

As vital because the controversy has been dominated by the proposed elevate to worth-added tax (VAT), the bigger debate will appreciate to be about how we develop the economy for the nice thing about the majority.

A bigger, quicker rising economy, and the larger fiscal resources that contains it, would give us more fiscal room to meet more of our developmental needs.

But the actual fact is that our economy has stagnated for over a decade. In that point, GDP mutter has averaged much less than 2 per cent, far under the extent required to meet our increasing listing of needs.

In 2024, the economy grew by finest 0.6 per cent. Over the medium term, GDP mutter is projected to common 1.8 per cent.

To fulfill our needs of redistribution, redress and structural transformation, the economy must develop vital quicker and in an inclusive manner. Here is the central just of the hot administration.

Today time’s Budget proposes a courageous and pragmatic manner to reaching this intrepid project.

It requires macroeconomic stability supported by sound fiscal coverage. For the deepening of structural reforms to do away with the boundaries to mutter and job creation. And for scaling up infrastructure to unlock the productive skill of the economy, whereas constructing a succesful remark that helps all these efforts.

The Budget remains dedicated to a balanced fiscal approach.

As projected within the 2024 Medium Term Budget Coverage Statement (MTBPS), a price range well-known surplus of 0.5 per cent of GDP will seemingly be performed in 2024/25, and this could maybe moreover develop to 0.9 per cent in 2025/26.

Authorities debt will stabilise, at 76.2 per cent of GDP in 2025/26, whereas the consolidated price range deficit also narrows, to 3.5 per cent by 2027/28.

Madam Speaker as debt stabilises, a rising well-known surplus will allow the authorities to diminish debt-provider charges as a share of revenue.

Some of those savings will seemingly be ragged to develop up fiscal buffers that we wish as protection against future economic shocks. Shocks appreciate the COVID-19 pandemic, and diverse uncertainties stemming from the rising geopolitical tensions and the worldwide economic ramifications thereof.

Debt-provider charges will amount to R389.6 billion within the hot financial year. This interprets to 22 cents of every rand we elevate in revenue. It is far larger than what we spend on neatly being, the police and neatly-liked training.

We must always reverse this pattern and prevent the worth of debt from placing off resources that would moreover in another case be spent on our pressing social needs, or to put money into mutter.

On this regard, our fiscal approach stabilises debt provider charges as a share of revenue in 2024/25 by affirming a well-known price range surplus.

The Eskom debt reduction preparations are also effective and contribute to the improved fiscal diagram.

Eskom is now in a significantly better financial diagram than in 2023 when the debt reduction modified into before every thing announced.

As a results of these improvements, now we appreciate got made up our minds to simplify the final phase of the debt reduction kit.

The final R70 billion debt takeover will now get replaced with R40 billion in 2025/26, and R10 billion in 2028/29. This will consequence in a saving for the authorities of about R20 billion.

Honourable Participants, these fiscal improvements are necessary milestones on our direction to fostering a genuine macroeconomic ambiance that would moreover be a prerequisite for a elevated level of mutter that promotes job creation, improves public services and products and reduces inequality.

FOSTERING FASTER INCLUSIVE GROWTH

Our technique to enact quicker mutter remains anchored on the following four pillars:

• Affirming macroeconomic stability,
• Imposing structural reforms,
• Bettering remark functionality, and
• Accelerating infrastructure investment.

Affirming macroeconomic stability, inclusive of prudent fiscal coverage, promotes genuine prices, lowers passion charges and enhances the country’s resilience to exterior shocks.

This creates a conducive ambiance for investment.

Imposing structural reforms removes impediments to mutter and creates a solid foundation for a high and sustained economic mutter.

Madam Speaker, it modified into out of the realisation that economic mutter and financial stability are mutually reinforcing, that Operation Vulindlela modified into fashioned as a joint initiative between the Treasury and the Presidency, to fast tune the implementation of structural reforms.

Its needs had been to:
1.    Stabilise the provision of electrical energy;
2.    Accomplish a aggressive and efficient freight logistics machine;
3.    Cut the rate and toughen the typical of digital conversation;
4.    Be definite that a genuine, quality present of water; and
5.    Reform the visa regime to facilitate professional immigration and make stronger tourism.

Since its institution in 2020, OV has made valid progress in reaching these needs. As an illustration:

• The energy reforms appreciate created a 22 500 mega-watt pipeline of projects. Extra than 10 000 mega-watts are formally registered with the NERSA, which is one amongst the final steps within the regulatory project. These projects will contribute to reducing vitality cuts.
• The Freight Logistics Roadmap modified into accredited. The roadmap permits interior most sector participation and affords third-occasion entry to any operator with out discrimination in response to the community yelp.
• The tag of a 1.5GB data bundle has declined by 51 per cent, permitting folk and tiny agencies to entry more cheap data.
• The water-use licenses backlog has been cleared, unlocking billions in investment and freeing projects that had stalled thanks to the backlog.
• The water quality regulatory machine modified into reinstated for the first time since 2014. Here is the Inexperienced Tumble, Blue Tumble and No Tumble certification that enables effective intervention in supporting failing municipalities to ascertain tidy water to citizens.
• e-Visas for travellers from 34 countries were introduced to noticeably enhance tourism. The depended on employer plot has been established to fast-tune visa project for well-known investors.

These achievements appreciate eased economic bottlenecks. And constructing on the successes, Part 2 of OV will focal level on:

• Following via on unusual reforms in energy, water, logistics and visa systems;
• Strengthening local authorities and bettering the offer of neatly-liked services and products;
• Harnessing digital public infrastructure as a driver of mutter and inclusion; and
• Creating efficient, productive and inclusive cities.
   

INFRASTRUCTURE

Madam Speaker, infrastructure is a key pillar of our mutter approach.

It is the bedrock for economic pattern, a key source of jobs, and an avenue to scale-up provider offer.

INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING

This price range reflects that working out. Allocations in direction of capital funds are the fastest- rising predicament of spending by economic classification.

Public infrastructure spending over the following three years will amount to bigger than R1 trillion. The spending will focal level on three sectors:

• R402 billion for transport and logistics,
• R219.2 billion for energy infrastructure, and
• R156.3 billion for water and sanitation.

In transport, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) will spend R100 billion over the medium term to withhold the nationwide avenue community in precise situation.

Provincial roads departments will reseal over 16,000 lane-kilometres of roads in their areas of authority.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is making genuine progress to rebuild infrastructure to ascertain cheap commuter rail services and products.

To protect this progress, now we appreciate got provisionally allocated an additional R19.2 billion over the medium term for serious signalling upgrades.

This could maybe moreover allow commuters from areas appreciate Mamelodi, Kwa-Mashu, Motherwell and Khayelitsha to safe a command every 10 minutes, to come by to and from work and significantly decrease the money that low-revenue households spend on transport.

The allocation can even allow PRASA to maximise the functionality of the 241 contemporary trains delivered via the rolling stock renewal programme.

Despite the progress made, PRASA’s procurement machine needs strengthening.

The management of the entity appreciate already instituting measures to offer a steal to their procurement weaknesses. This contains getting make stronger from the National Treasury to develop skill and mitigate dangers and venture are living audits for gigantic procurement projects.

In water, we’re investing in a entire lot of gigantic-scale dam projects that are ramping up or getting into constructing.

The Mkhomazi Finishing up is anticipated to originate constructing in November 2027, transferring water to the Mngeni Water Present Machine. This could maybe moreover elevate the entire skill of the machine to five million households in eThekwini and 4 district municipalities in KwaZulu Natal.

The Berg River-Voëlvlei Augmentation Blueprint is anticipated to originate in July 2026. The mission will toughen the Western Cape’s Water Present Machine, bettering regional water safety whereas reliably supplying home, agricultural and industrial water customers.

To additional race infrastructure offer and effectiveness, we’re persevering with reforms to facilitate elevated interior most sector participation, capital budgeting reform and exchange infrastructure financing.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

The contemporary regulations for public-interior most partnerships (PPPs) were finalised and can seize enact on 1 June 2025.

The regulations decrease the procedural complexity of venture PPPs, originate skill to make stronger and put together PPPs, originate definite principles for managing unsolicited bids, and give a steal to fiscal risk governance.

The regulations also contain provision for nationwide departments to keep sector-particular PPP objects. These objects will pressure interior most sector participation (PSP), creating opportunities to optimise the steadiness sheets of financially distressed remark-owned companies.

The Department of Transport and Transnet will have interaction the market on PSP projects within the following areas:

• The ore, chrome, coal and manganese traces.
• Enlargement and automation of the ferrochrome and magnetite terminal at the port of Richards Bay.
• The container and car sectors, alongside with the functionality designation of the SA container port machine as a regional trans-shipment hub for well-known transport traces.
• And institution of impartial rolling stock leasing company.

Would possibly honest aloof Transnet require gap funding for its PSP projects, the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) will withhold in mind these after factual packaging and financial structuring.

Additional guarantees can even be regarded as to refinance the entity’s maturing debt as neatly as its capital investment programme.

Within the energy sector, the Honest Transmission Programme will seemingly be launched later this year.

A request for data for a multi-line transmission kit can even be issued by the Honest Energy Producers Location of job in July this year, adopted by a request for proposals in November.

These will allow the interior most sector to play a key role within the growth of the transmission community.

BUDGET FACILITY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

Madam Speaker, now we appreciate got reconfigured the BFI to speed more than one portray house windows in predicament of correct one annual window.

Earlier this week, we published a demand proposals under the contemporary machine.

The first window is now open and can discontinuance mid-April. The next window will open soon thereafter.

Financing choices to search out out the precise fiscal mechanism to make stronger projects appreciate also been separated from the evaluation and price range processes.

This could maybe moreover facilitate the mobilising of mighty interior most finance and toughen allocative effectivity in fiscal make stronger.

ALTERNATIVE FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS

Lastly, our efforts to diversify the financing technique to make stronger infrastructure are taking shape.

A credit score assure car to mobilize interior most sector capital by derisking projects, will seemingly be launched in 2026. Its preliminary focal level will seemingly be on impartial transmission geared toward bridging the energy transmission deficit. As soon as the automobile has demonstrated its efficacy, this could maybe presumably be broadened to encompass diverse sectors.

Authorities will advise its first infrastructure bond in 2025/26. We’re going to have the option to also introduce diverse modern financing devices to diversify the infrastructure funding sources. Financial institutions alongside with pension funds, banks, pattern banks and global financial institutions appreciate already expressed passion in collaborating.

This, Madam Speaker, is how we conception to leverage infrastructure investment to ease present facet constraints to the economy and toughen the typical of public services and products the opposite folks come by.

REVENUE AND TAX PROPOSALS

Madam Speaker,

There are a entire lot of power spending pressures in neatly being, training, transport and safety. These want to attain with the authorities neatly pleasant its provider offer mandate.

After careful consideration, the authorities has made up our minds to fund these. Deferring the funding of these sectors additional would compromise the authorities’s skill to meet its constitutional responsibilities to the opposite folks.

To raise the revenue wished, the authorities proposes to raise the VAT rate by half of- a- share level in 2025/26, and by one other half of-a-share level within the following year.

This could maybe moreover bring the VAT rate to 16 per cent in 2026/27.

Authorities also proposes no inflationary adjustments to interior most revenue tax brackets, rebates and clinical tax credit score.
These measures will elevate R28 billion in additional revenue in 2025/26 and R14.5 billion in 2026/27.

Madam Speaker, this resolution modified into no longer made evenly. No Minister of Finance is ever happy to raise taxes.

We are responsive to the truth that a decrease overall burden of tax can encourage to raise investment and job creation and also unlock family spending vitality.

We appreciate, then again, had to steadiness this data against the very valid, and pressing, provider offer needs that are essential to our developmental needs and which can’t be additional postponed.

OPTING FOR VAT

Honourable Participants, we thoroughly examined selections to elevating the VAT rate. We weighed up the coverage trade-offs eager, alongside with will increase to corporate and interior most revenue taxes.

Increasing corporate or interior most revenue tax charges would generate much less revenue, whereas potentially harming investment, job creation and economic mutter.

Corporate tax collections appreciate declined over the outdated couple of years, an illustration of falling earnings and a buying and selling ambiance worsened by the logistics constraints and rising electrical energy charges.

Furthermore, South Africa’s corporate revenue tax collections are already elevated than most of our be conscious countries.

On the diverse hand, a upward push to the interior most revenue tax rate would decrease taxpayers’ incentives to work and build.

Our high interior most revenue tax rate and our interior most revenue tax collections as a share of GDP are far elevated than those of most creating countries. Increasing it’s therefore no longer feasible.

Taking on additional debt to meet the spending pressures modified into also no longer feasible. The amount is barely too gigantic. The tag of borrowing could maybe presumably be unaffordable. Our sub-investment credit score score would also contain this level of borrowing dearer and set up us prone to even additional downgrades.

Madam Speaker, VAT is a tax that affects all people. By opting for a marginal elevate to VAT, its distributional enact and impact had been cautiously regarded as.
The rise is also the finest approach to keep far flung from additional spending cuts and to permit us lengthen the social wage.

CUSHIONING HOUSEHOLDS

The authorities will be quite responsive to the rate-of-living pressures confronted by households, alongside with high meals and gas prices and rising electrical energy and transportation charges.
Here is why we’re taking concrete steps to offer protection to inclined households. The is done via:

• Offering social grant will increase that are above inflation.
• Increasing the basket of VAT zero-rated meals objects to encompass canned greens, dairy liquid blends, and organ meats from sheep, poultry and diverse animals.
• We are also no longer increasing the gas levy for one other year, saving shoppers around R4 billion.

RESOURCING SARS

Madam Speaker, broadening the tax sinful and bettering the administrative effectivity of the South African Earnings Provider, permits us over time, to spread the tax burden more evenly and equitably.

With this in mind, SARS is allocated R3.5 billion within the hot financial year and an additional R4 billion over the medium term.

By the tip of February this year, SARS reported a well-known elevate in undisputed debt. This means billions of Rands are owed to the Converse.

The revenue collector has also detected 156 000 taxpayers who are no longer registered or appreciate no longer filed regardless of their tall economic job.

I name on all South Africans to follow the law and make stronger SARS in its endeavour to amass the revenues that allow authorities to fund and present serious services and products.

I also want to emphasise the importance of tax compliance.

I thank all compliant taxpayers who pay their graceful portion of taxes. I also encourage other folks who are no longer compliant to attain the factual factor.

The rewards of elevated tax compliance and effectivity seize time. But again, the investments we contain at the present time in SARS will allow the collector the time to achieve improvements.

SPENDING PRIORITIES AND THE DIVISION OF REVENUE

Madam Speaker, the revenue proposed via the tax measures announced on this Budget will contribute largely to us offering R232.6 billion in additional funding to key programmes over the medium term.

This portions to R102 billion in 2025/26, R68 billion in 2026/27, and R62 billion in 2027/28.

The funding is for spending pressures for infrastructure investments, social protection, a elevated-than-anticipated public-provider wage settlement, and provisional allocations for serious frontline services and products.

Honourable participants, within the final year by myself public sector neatly being machine misplaced discontinuance to 9,000 neatly being workers. We did no longer appreciate the money to retain or exchange them even after reprioritising funds budgeted for consumables and medicines.

Accruals within the field, which is the money owed by departments to distributors for services and products already supplied, also ballooned to in relation to R22 billion.

This implies that the money allocated to departments finally ends up paying for outdated services and products and goods in predicament of for the hot needs, surroundings off a vicious cycle of price range shortfalls, unpaid invoices, and a disaster in cashflow and the planning and predictability of budgets.

Here is an untenable field that we could maybe moreover no longer leave unresolved.

In consequence, consolidated spending, which excludes passion funds, will increase from R2.4 trillion in 2024/25 to R2.83 trillion in 2027/28.

Provinces will fetch R2.4 trillion over the MTEF interval. This price range contains additional allocations to make stronger serious provincial functions connected to neatly being and training.

We belief that the allocations will seemingly be ragged for his or her supposed applications.

The local authorities equitable portion will elevate from R99.5 billion in 2024/25 to R115.7 billion in 2027/28. Here is to fund will increase within the worth of bulk water and electrical energy charges supplied for free to needy households.

In 2025/26, 83 per cent of the local authorities equitable portion affords a free neatly-liked services and products kit of R610 per 30 days to 11.2 million uncomfortable households.

Honourable Participants, this kit of free municipal services and products continues to be a key machine for reducing poverty and inequality, elevating living requirements and facilitating entry to elevated economic opportunities.

PUBLIC SECTOR PERSONNEL AND WAGES

Madam Speaker, a 3-year wage settlement has been reached. Even if the settlement exceeds the 2024 Budget and MTBPS projections, its duration reduces uncertainty in price range planning.

This settlement will rate an additional R7.3 billion in 2025/26, R7.8 billion in 2026/27 and R8.2 billion in 2027/28.

An amount of R11 billion is provisionally allocated over the following two fiscal years for the early retirement initiative, whose draw is to device youthful workers into the public provider. Preliminary savings are anticipated to common R7.1 billion per year over the medium-to-lengthy term. The savings will seemingly be retained by departments.

The interventions on the wage invoice are geared toward making sure that when key frontline group are misplaced via natural attrition and retirement, sectors are ready to contain vacant posts to withhold services and products running effectively.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND BASIC EDUCATION

Paying salaries constitute 76 per cent of provincial training budgets. This implies that finest R24 out of every R100 of their price range is left for funding college infrastructure, meals for newcomers from uncomfortable backgrounds, and stationery and textbooks, amongst others.
Our learner-trainer ratios remain elevated than we would appreciate, which methodology that we aloof want more teachers in faculty rooms.

To forestall compensation of workers from crowding out diverse equally necessary areas of spending, R19.1 billion is added over the medium term to withhold roughly 11 000 teachers in faculty rooms.
The foundation to constructing the following expertise of citizens who contribute economically and socially to this big nation is early childhood pattern.

Despite this, the subsidy for ECD has no longer elevated from the 2019 level of R17 per day, per baby.
To resolve this, an additional R10 billion over the medium term is allocated to raise the subsidy to R24 per day per baby. The additional funding can even make stronger elevated entry to ECD for roughly 700 000 more young other folks, up to the age of 4 years frail.

HEALTH

Health spending will develop from R277 billion in 2024/25 to R329 billion in 2027/28 to make stronger the equitable provision of public neatly being services and products, alongside with free well-known healthcare.

Love in provincial training, a well-known share of the provincial neatly being price range is spent on the salaries and wages.
R28.9 billion is added to the neatly being price range, essentially to withhold about 9 300 healthcare workers in our hospitals and clinics.

This can even be ragged to utilize 800 put up-neighborhood provider clinical doctors, and to be definite our pharmacies attain no longer speed out of medicines.

SOCIAL SECURITY
Honourable Participants, social grants are allocated R284.7 billion in 2025/26. This permits us to raise:

• The frail age and disability grants by R130 to R2 315 in April.
• The Tiny one Abet Grant by R30 to R560 per 30 days.
• The foster care grant by R70.

The COVID19 Social Relief of Hurt (SRD), in its contemporary contain, will seemingly be extended by a year to conclude March 2026. R35.2 billion is allocated for that reason.
As announced by the President within the Converse of the Nation Tackle, the SRD will seemingly be ragged as a foundation for the introduction of a sustainable contain of revenue make stronger for unemployed other folks.

The lengthy speed contain and nature of the SRD will seemingly be told by the outcomes of the overview of filled with life labour market programmes.

Here is anticipated to be performed by September 2025.

Madam Speaker, in relation to twenty-eight million beneficiaries will entry social grants.

In fact that ours is one amongst basically the most entire social safety nets among rising economies. This reflects our dedication to addressing poverty and inequality, whereas conserving our spending sustainable.

PEACE AND SECURITY
On this price range, now we appreciate got also made a provision to stock up funding for our safety functions and peace-conserving commitments.

R9.4 billion is allocated to fund the defence pressure and correctional services and products.
Over the medium term, R5 billion has been allocated to the Department of Defence to make stronger South Africa’s participation within the Southern African Construction Community (SADC) mission within the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to complement unusual peace conserving activities.

We’re going to have the option to continue working with the Department of Defence on methods to alternate the composition of expenditure to modernise the defence pressure.

Madam Speaker, combating financial crimes and corruption is required to preserving the integrity of our economy and the institutions that foster stability and social wellbeing.

Funds are allocated for bettering the financial forensic and accounting capabilities in our law enforcement institutions, to additional give a steal to our skill to detect and prosecute complex economic crimes.

These efforts address solutions from the Financial Circulate Project Power and the Converse Snatch Commission, making sure that we continue to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism with urgency and precision.

There are final points that require work throughout the year which could maybe moreover require funding later this year. These contains:
•    Infrastructure projects within the BFI and the rolling stock like a flash renewal programme;
•    Accommodating population adjustments that impact on the provincial equitable portion allocations;
•    Strengthening capabilities within the Location of job of the Chief Justice, Statistics South Africa and the South African Earnings Provider; and
•    Political occasion funding and infrastructure provision for royal homes.

BUILDING STATE CAPABILITY

Madam Speaker, our skill to carry quality public services and products relies on having a genuine, succesful and ethical remark.

Handing over genuine and sustainable core services and products is a precedence for this authorities.
Our focal level need to remain on more effective and efficient provider offer, and a factual combination between personnel expenditure, working charges and the repairs of physical facilities and sources, supported by unswerving and efficient administration.

BUDGET REFORMS
For over a decade, budgets were trimmed at some stage within the board.
Whereas these measures appreciate helped withhold fiscal discipline, they appreciate normally been performed with out an intensive interrogation of whether the funds we allocate genuinely make stronger our nationwide priorities.

We must always acknowledge that over time budgets are inclined to develop incrementally, normally carrying forward historical allocations, with out necessarily reflecting the evolving needs of our country.

This procedure has ended in inefficiencies, misalignments, duplications and, in some circumstances, the persevered funding of programmes that attain no longer yield the supposed impact.

We recognise the urgent need to address this. We’re no longer deaf to the public’s field about wasteful and inefficient expenditure.

We know that we must always set up the taxpayer’s belief day by day, by spending public money with care and making sure that every rand serene is spent on its supposed reason.

Since 2013, as share of the continued revaluation of the operations of authorities, the National Treasury and provincial treasuries appreciate undertaken 240 spending opinions.

These opinions fluctuate from inspecting efficiencies in administrative functions, appreciate office accommodation, like a flash management and extra time pay in diverse sectors, to measuring the effectiveness of provider offer programmes in neatly being, training and human settlements.

The consolidated solutions of these opinions will seemingly be taken to Cabinet within the following month.

The President has also undertaken to keep a committee between the Presidency and Treasury to name ruin, inefficient and underperforming programmes. Thank you for this dedication, Mr President!

As the National Treasury, we’re ready to seize the lead to toughen the effectiveness and effectivity of spending. We’re going to have the option to:

• Undertake an audit of ghost workers, starting with nationwide and provincial departments.
• Use the continued, detailed overview of labour market activation programmes and public employment programmes to consolidate and rationalise all the public employment ecosystem. The draw of the overview is to diminish duplication and toughen operational efficiencies at some stage within the larger than 100 filled with life labour market programmes in over 20 public institutions. The solutions of this overview will seemingly be supplied to Cabinet in due direction.
• The Treasury will put into effect well-known adjustments to the price range project by reassessing the preliminary assumptions informing price range allocations, with a look to creating room for improved spending.

Madam Speaker, these opinions ride beyond mere rate-cutting measures.

They enable us to systematically assess whether public expenditure is effectively aligned with the priorities of this authorities, and whether it delivers the finest that you just’re going to think worth for money and impact for the opposite folks of South Africa whereas conserving us on the streak of fiscal sustainability.

These initiatives will give impetus to the dull implementation of the solutions of spending overview.

I name on Ministers, MECs, DGs, HoDs and each official guilty for public funds, to include these efforts and play their share.

IMPLEMENTING THE CONDITIONAL GRANT REVIEW

The proliferation of conditional grants has necessitated a overview of conditional grants to diminish duplication and toughen the effectiveness of programmes.

This price range will put into effect the first phase of the solutions of the overview and contains merging conditional grants in neatly-liked training and agriculture.

Efficiency based utterly utterly conditional grants to metropolitan municipalities are also introduced, linked to institutional, governance and financial reforms to toughen services and products.

BUILDING DISASTER RESILIENCE
Madam Speaker, the incentives in our contemporary disaster management machine are skewed in direction of reduction and rehabilitation, when mitigation and readiness to minimise hurt is really the most internal your skill response.

Our municipalities stand at the frontline of disaster response yet they are hamstrung by aging infrastructure, bureaucratic fragmentation, and restricted entry to emergency funds.

The precedence is to diminish the administrative burden to entry emergency funds. Every hour of extend charges lives and livelihoods.

Continuous improvements are made to the grant machine to incentivise municipalities to entry a diversity of funding devices for disasters. These encompass their very beget price range, the contingency reserve, conditional grant funding and insurance.

The Budget allocates R1.7 billion to answer future disasters over the medium term, whereas R4 billion is provisionally allocated to address backlogs in recovery efforts for provinces and municipalities.

STRENGTHENING LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The decline in municipal services and products is obvious at some stage in cities, towns and rural villages highlighting the systemic challenges confronted by this diverse neighborhood of municipalities.

As outlined by the President in his Converse of the Nation Tackle, phase 2 of Operation Vulindlela, the institutional structure of local authorities will seemingly be reviewed via the updating of the white paper of local authorities.

Basically based on the constitutional belief of funds command feature, the overview of the local authorities fiscal framework will appreciate because it will per chance presumably be finance local authorities, relative to their functions and their contain.
Reforms to the revenue producing services and products of local authorities, specifically water and sanitation, electrical energy and refuse removal are underway.

Six of the eight metropolitan municipalities appreciate met the minimal necessities to participate within the financial performance incentive grant, the City Construction Financing Grant.

Additional allocations within the programme are dependent on municipalities meeting particular targets connected living out in their performance improvement action plans.

For 2025/26, this contains serious institutional, governance and management adjustments to originate an enabling ambiance for lengthy term investment in infrastructure.
By ring-fencing the revenues from these services and products, and running working surpluses, these enterprise objects can generate funds for infrastructure improvements to carry quality and genuine services and products.

CONCLUSION

Madam Speaker, in conclusion, allow me to reiterate that via the coverage selections now we appreciate got made and the fastidiously focused allocations we’re proposing, public institutions will appreciate to be in a bigger diagram to continue handing over vital wished services and products to the opposite folks.

This price range reflects our collective efforts to chart a direction via refined cases to prosperity.

It represents a vision of the future and a realistic overview of the uncover, as neatly because the alternate choices accessible to us factual now.
This vision can finest be performed by making refined but regarded as coverage selections, selections that weigh up the trade-offs and commit to a technique forward.

Honourable Participants, this price range is the fabricated from the blended and careful consideration of the Cabinet of the Authorities of National Unity, that has done the gorgeous and wanted work of assessing the selections open to us at the hot juncture in our mutter ride.

Honourable Participants, this price range is also a proposal to you because the Parliament that has been democratically elected to listing the aspirations and interests of all South Africans by confronting the gorgeous selections wished to switch our country forward.

It is far on this spirit that I device on the words of the pan-African leader, Amilcar Cabral, who knowledgeable us to:

“Repeatedly undergo in mind that the opposite folks are no longer preventing for tips, for the things in anyone’s head.

They are preventing to gain field matter advantages, to are living better and in peace, to scrutinize their lives ride forward, to assure the procedure forward for his or her young other folks.”
The coverage selections proposed listed below are about reaching these field matter advantages. They are about transferring South Africa and all South Africans forward into a bigger, more affluent and equitable future.

Speaker, as I discontinuance, allow me to particular my deepest gratitude to the President and Deputy President for his or her counsel, their make stronger and for his or her management.

Thank you also to the Deputy Ministers of Finance and the ravishing National Treasury team of workers led by the Director-Fashioned.

Thank you to the Commissioner of the South African Earnings Provider and the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, for his or her astute stewardship of these two key institutions.

Thank you to my Cabinet colleagues, the Ministers’ Committee on the Budget, and the Budget Council, who portion the heavy load of the no longer easy choices that we must always contain to withhold the sustainability of our public funds.

To the Parliamentary Committees of Finance, Appropriations and Public Accounts, I particular my real appreciation.

To my pricey well-known other and family, your care, working out and make stronger is a constant source of strength and inspiration. Thank you.

Lastly, thanks to South African other folks that continue to entrust their aspirations to us.