ANC STATEMENT TABLED BUDGET 2025 @@KASIBC_NEWS

ANC STATEMENT TABLED BUDGET 2025 @@KASIBC_NEWS 

Today, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, tabled the 2025 Budget in Parliament. In addition, the Minister introduced the Appropriation Bill and tabled the 2025 Division of Revenue Bill. 

This represents a critical turning point in our legislative process, following extensive consultations with political parties within the Government of National Unity (GNU), labour, business, civil society, and other key stakeholders. 

These engagements laid the foundation for a fiscal framework that seeks to balance the competing needs of the state whilst advancing inclusive development. The 2025 Budget was presented amidst a complex economic landscape—characterised by a global economic downturn, constrained domestic tax base, high inflation and unemployment, increased tariffs, and limited revenue streams. Despite these challenges, South Africa has made notable progress. 

The country’s credit rating outlook has been revised from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’, signalling international confidence in South Africa’s financial stability and debt-servicing capability. This upgrade reflects the country’s commitment to fiscal prudence, macroeconomic stability, and the pursuit of a growth-focused agenda. It reinforces investor confidence and affirms that South Africa is on a positive economic trajectory. A key measure in the Budget is the inflationary adjustment of the fuel levy, which is expected to boost revenue and help enhance fiscal space. Government proposes an inflationary increase in the general fuel levy for petrol and diesel to R4.01c/l and R3.85c/l, respectively, effective from 4 June 2025. 

While this adjustment is welcome for its revenue benefits, government must also find robust and sustainable ways of reducing the overall cost of fuel without compromising the current fuel taxes that contribute significantly to the fiscus and the national infrastructure program. Balancing affordability for consumers with fiscal stability remains a critical challenge.

Additionally, we welcome the expanding of zero-rated VAT goods, which will shield vulnerable households from the high cost of living. The allocation of 61 cents of every rand spent towards social spending is also a welcome development, reflecting a firm commitment to equity and social protection. 

The Budget prioritises areas that are aligned with our national development objectives, including education, health, infrastructure, housing, early childhood development, public transport, social wage, and arts and culture. 

These investments underscore the Budget's developmental and transformative nature, aimed at improving the quality of life for all South Africans. 

The following are the key highlights of the budget: 

SANRAL has been allocated R93.1 billion. This will be used to build new roads, maintain existing ones as part of the road infrastructure development and quality roads; 

R156.3 billion allocated for water infrastructure. This will improve the existing infrastructure and build new dams and water treatment plants; 

The allocation to PRASA will increase the capacity of the entity threefold. A 5% increase for civil servants is a positive development. 

The civil service should be commensurate with the quality of services and the service provided to society. Basic services have been allocated R1 trillion. This quantum underscores the importance of provision of basic services and our investment in people. 

The ANC will ensure quality provision of services. An Investment of R1.4 billion for the local government elections. This reaffirms the resilience of our democracy, regular elections, the will of the people and the importance of local government in the delivery of services; 

There is an increase in social grants allocation to protect the poor from the economic hardships; it is for this reason that the ANC regards the budget as pro-poor. This is an expansionary budget designed to address the pressing challenges of the state and to provide service to the people whilst transforming an economy which grows at 1.4% in 2025. 

Importantly, the Budget is designed to ensure the quality of spending, not just quantity. To this end, expenditure reviews must be institutionalised to redirect resources to critical need areas and assess the effectiveness and impact of spending against national priorities. This is essential in achieving meaningful developmental outcomes and ensuring that public funds deliver maximum value. To strengthen revenue generation, the capacitation and modernisation of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is a strategic and welcome development. 

Enhanced capacity at SARS will significantly improve tax collection and revenue mobilisation. While these efforts are critical, we must acknowledge the continued concern over the country's rising debt levels. Economic growth remains sluggish in comparison to the rate at which debt is increasing, placing further pressure on debt-to-GDP ratios. Debt service costs are escalating, and urgent focus must be placed on reducing these costs and improving the efficiency of public expenditure. 

The 2025 Budget is a people’s budget—a budget for inclusive growth, job creation, and investor confidence. It is pro-poor and infrastructure-focused, aimed at cushioning the vulnerable through social protection and expanded access to zero-rated basic goods. 

The budget strikes a careful balance between supporting economic growth and exercising fiscal discipline. It prioritises strategic investment in infrastructure and public services while narrowing the budget deficit from 5% of GDP in 2024/25 to 3.5% by 2027/28. 

This Budget reflects the ANC's unwavering commitment to improving the material conditions of the poor and working class. It allocates: R1.5 trillion to Learning and Culture over the medium term to strengthen basic education, sustain early childhood development, support NSFAS and strengthen the higher education sector. R845 billion to Health, including R20.8 billion in additional funding to employ doctors and nurses, improve hospital services and support the rollout of the National Health Insurance. 

R1 trillion to Social Development, which includes the increase in social grants and the extension of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant until March 2026. These investments are not statistics—they are lifelines. They ensure that learners remain in classrooms, children have access to ECD, families can access quality healthcare, and the unemployed are not left to suffer in silence. 

The social wage remains a vital anchor of the ANC’s developmental state and will be strengthened through targeted and expanded support to those who need it most. This fiscal strategy will set South Africa on course to stabilise its debt trajectory next year, through improved primary surpluses and reduced debt-service costs. 

Despite limited resources, the budget maintains a strong commitment to the social contract and the principles of equity, development, and sustainability. Through this Budget, South Africa remains firmly on the path of economic transformation and growth. This is a developmental, transformative peoples’ budget.