Godongwana notes several political lessons learned in 2025 budget rollercoaster
The Finance Minister Enoch Godobgwana said it has taught him not to anticipate how political parties will respond to a situation and also taught parties about the intricacies of the budget legislative process.
Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, arrives with his executive to deliver the 2025 Budget Speech during the National Assembly plenary at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Picture: Phando Jikelo/ Parliament of SA.
CAPE TOWN - Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said the 2025 budget rollercoaster has taught him not to anticipate how political parties will respond to a situation and that consultation is vital.
But he said it’s also taught political parties about the intricacies of the budget legislative process.
Godongwana would have rested somewhat easier on Wednesday night with early indications that the Government of National Unity (GNU)’s second biggest party is on board with the latest version of the budget that will increase the fuel levy for the first time in three years, as opposed to raising the value-added tax (VAT) rate that led the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to drag the minister to court.
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With the parliamentary budget process starting all over again after the finance minister withdrew the money bills he tabled in March, Godongwana and political parties may have been under a misapprehension that the budget can easily be changed.
“Everybody said the minister of finance has messed up, and he must go. But we’ve not looked at the nitty-gritty of why that process is so complicated.”
Godongwana said while some parties delivered “fascinating” submissions on how the March budget could be tweaked, in reality, the proposed changes can’t be made by the mere stroke of a pen.
“The message is that we have all learned the process is cumbersome, and it has to be cumbersome because the manner in which it has been tailored, that it should not just be easy to say we are sitting down and mending the budget.”
Parliament will now be racing towards a 30 July deadline for both houses to pass this budget before state departments will be curtailed to spending only 10% of 2024’s budget.