The good news about the Budget speech was that it actually happened, other than that, it was a massive anticlimax

The good news about Wednesday's 2025 Budget speech was that it actually happened – and was not delayed once again at great expense to the country's wellbeing. 

Other than this, the Budget was a massive anticlimax. 

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and his treasury team have missed yet another opportunity to outline bold steps needed to grow the economy and pull South Africa out of a fiscal quagmire. 

By bolstering SARS capacity, raising VAT – albeit a lower increase than what was initially tabled – and raising an additional sum via tax bracket tinkering, the Minister would have us believe he has done what is required to move the country forward. 

However, the Budget was more memorable for its glaring omissions, notably the kind of spending interventions and tax incentives needed to back up the lip service to economic growth. Where were the bold steps to reduce government spending by streamlining the administration? Where are the new tax incentives to attract investors needed to give meaning to public private partnerships? 

Budget 2025 feels depressingly familiar to previous budgets that promised much but delivered little in terms of concrete steps to build the broad economic base necessary for the country to progress.

Jacques Moolman
President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry