PRETORIA, May 1 (NNN-SANEWS) — South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to re-table the 2025 Budget Review on May 21.
This after National Treasury announced that it has withdrawn the proposed 0.5% Value-Added Tax (VAT) increase which was to be implemented on May 1.
Godongwana announced the date of the new budget review during a media briefing in Pretoria, on Wednesday.
The Minister described the ensuing debate following the announcement of the budget tabled on March 12 as “rigorous, as is right in a healthy democracy”.
“Today, there’s a clarity [that] VAT will remain at 15%. This decision was shaped not only by political debates but importantly, by the voices of South Africans.
“When people speak, we must also listen, and I’m encouraged by the passion shown. It reflects the seriousness with which we approach the hard choices needed to place our finances on a sustainable path, protect the vulnerable and accelerate growth,” he said.
Godongwana said he was “pleased” that the budget will be balanced “without raising VAT while protecting vital services like education, health and social grants.”
The Minister said going forward, National Treasury’s focus will be threefold starting with balancing the budget by managing costs better.
“Raising other taxes besides VAT was not an option [as] it would harm growth, savings and jobs. Borrowing more would worsen our debt crisis. We already spend more than R1 billion servicing debt. We must do more with less, review government spending critically, root out waste, every cent of public money must be spent wisely.
“The second issue, we must strengthen revenue collection. In the [March] budget, we made provisions for SARS [the South African Revenue Service] to collect more particularly for those who still owe SARS and to deal with illicit trading,” he said.
The third area that Treasury will home in on is laying “strong foundations for economic growth”.
“Job creation is the number one priority. We must remove barriers to investment, unlock private sector capital and expand opportunities for all South Africans. Through Operation Vulindlela, we have already seen what focused collaboration can achieve and we will now accelerate these reforms.
“The challenges ahead are serious but not insurmountable. If we work together, stay focused and persevere, we can chart a better course for our economy and our people. That is my commitment to South Africans and that is what we aim to achieve when we table the new Budget on the 21st of May 2025,” he said. — NNN-SANEWS
