SA can entice investors with new budget: Dean Macpherson

News24

27-05-2025

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South Africa can focus on rebuilding the economy and resuscitating investor interest now that the third iteration of the budget has the support of the nation's coalition government, the infrastructure minister said.
'With budget 3.0, there seems to be broad agreement, there seems to be less political noise,' Dean Macpherson said in an interview on the sidelines of an infrastructure summit in Cape Town on Monday.
Two previous versions of the budget were scrapped because of disagreements between the ANC, the largest party in the coalition, and the DA, the second-biggest, over a planned value-added tax rate increase. The hike was scrapped in a third version that was proposed last week, and included spending curbs to make up for the revenue shortfall.
'What we want to see is an agreed growth path,' he said. 'I think that budget 3.0 is a good start on that. I think that you've seen the reactions of the market.'
The so-called government of national unity (GNU) was formed nearly a year ago after the ANC failed to win an outright parliamentary majority for the first time since apartheid ended in 1994.
The budget impasse threatened the stability of the 10-member coalition, which had agreed to prioritize economic growth, job creation, and safeguard the constitution.
Macpherson, a DA member, concedes it also hurt investor sentiment.
'It's obvious that the GNU has been suffering a number of headwinds, and particularly instability,' he said. 'I think that people have been nervous about that.'