Godongwana's budget options are limited — and increasingly clear

With finance minister Enoch Godongwana set to table budget 3.0 on May 21, he is torn between the urgent priorities of raising extra revenue, cutting spending and increasing investment.

The minister announced he would return to parliament to once again table a budget after being forced to “reverse” his 0.5% percentage point VAT hike, which was widely rejected by political parties and the public. He had proposed the VAT increase as a way of raising R75bn to narrow the gap between what the government spends and what it brings in.

Now, with the clock counting down to May 21, amid calls for Godongwana to step down and the fate of the DA in the GNU still in the balance, the minister's options seem increasingly limited — and increasingly clear.

South Africa’s executive branch is a monument to excess. The 2025 Budget Review reveals ministers and deputies earn R2.69m and R2.22m a year respectively — more than most Western leaders. Add to that luxury cars, 97 state-owned mansions (worth R1bn) and VIP security (R500m), and cabinet costs balloon to R1.2bn annually — a moral outrage in a nation where 55% of citizens live below the poverty line. 

This profligacy is unsustainable. The nation faces a choice: cling to broken systems or seize this moment to reinvent itself.