There is a spark of hope for the growth of the country’s economy and the reduction of the debt facing the country.
The Minister of Finance, Mr. Enoch Godongwana, said that the country’s economy will grow better and the country’s debt will decrease.
He said this while presenting the budget in Parliament.
Godongwana said that the economy is starting to grow well after years of slow growth due to the corruption that took place when there were suspicions of the government being controlled by a few.
“We are looking for the economy to grow by 1.6% this fiscal year. The economy has shown growth if you compare it to the fact that the economy grew by 1.4% last year.”
Godongwana said they expect the economy to continue growing in the coming years.
“We expect the economy to grow by 0.2% this year. We are looking for the economy to grow by 2% in 2028.”
Godongwana said that the thing that can hinder the growth of the economy is the traffic that happens in the ports in the country, the lack of quality infrastructure and the outbreak of tuberculosis.
Godongwa said it will be the first time in 17 years that the country’s debt has decreased.
“You have reduced the deficit in our budget and the amount we use to pay our debts has also decreased.”
Godongwana said the local government will spend a lot of money on infrastructure repairs.
He said the government will spend R1 trillion on infrastructure repairs this financial year.
“R557.4 billion will be used by the national government, the provincial governments will use R217.8 billion and the municipalities will use R205.7 billion.”
The minister also announced R227 billion that will be received by municipalities that are active in repairing infrastructure. He said many municipalities do not take care of infrastructure.
“Municipalities collect a lot of money from the people, but they use very little money to repair the infrastructure. That is why the repair of the infrastructure is delayed.”
Godongwana said that large municipalities, including Thekwini, are the ones that cannot apply for this money.
He said that the municipalities were given R86 billion to be able to take care of the problems.
He said they were worried about the problems plaguing the municipalities, and he promised changes.