Godongwana dismisses suggestions that he's not taking public budget workshop views seriously

CAPE TOWN - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has dismissed suggestions from some participants at Friday's public budget workshop that Treasury is not serious about taking their views into account. 

The National Treasury said a government without an outright majority party has necessitated a different approach to drafting a budget.  

Godongwana said Treasury will consider an earlier start to the public participation process next year soon after tabling budget 2026. 

While Treasury praises itself for having one of the most transparent budget processes in the world it says more public participation is still necessary.

However, some participants at Friday’s workshop expressed the view that the Treasury already has its budget strategy in place and doesn’t appear open to changing it.

Godongwana said this is not the case but that Treasury wants civil society to understand the trade-offs that have to be made in determining expenditure when revenue is limited. 

"We are not calling you to convince you. No. We are calling you to engage you, to hear your views. When you advise us, you don’t have to agree. You must say there are different ways of doing the same thing," said Godongwana. 

Godongwana added that at the end of the day it’s up to him to present the country with a budget. 

"Whatever happens. I have the responsibility to ensure I can guide a fiscal path for this country on the 12th of November," said Godongwana. 

That’s the date when Godongwana is proposing to present the adjustments budget after it took five months to pass the national budget this year.