Latest news with #3.0Budget
IOL News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
News you should know tonight: Top 5 stories you may have missed on May 19, 2025
The Health Ombudsman has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of an intern doctor, Dr Alulutho Mazwi at the Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital. Good evening, IOL News family! It's Monday, May 19, 2025 and it's time for a wrap of the biggest headlines making waves in South Africa and beyond. Don't forget to join the IOL WhatsApp Channel to stay in tune, informed and in the know. Why Ramaphosa left out Afrikaners in Trump talks: Analysts explain the strategy Political analysts suggest that President Cyril Ramaphosa deliberately left out Afrikaner nationalist leaders from his US visit with President Donald Trump to maintain unity within the GNU and ensure the delegation remains focused on its main read on, click here. Health ombudsman launches investigation into the death of intern doctor at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital The Health Ombudsman, Professor Taole Mokoena, has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of an intern doctor, Dr Alulutho Mazwi at the Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in uMlazi, KwaZulu-Natal. To read on, click here. How Budget 2025-26 could reshape service delivery and accountability Analysts have emphasised the need for the National Treasury to allocate more resources toward improving service delivery, complemented by stronger accountability measures to ensure efficiency and transparency as the Finance Minister prepares to present the '3.0 Budget' for the 2025-26 financial year. To read on, click here. Seven Gauteng teenagers arrested after viral bullying video emerges Seven teenage girls have been arrested in Gauteng in connection with a bullying video that has since gone viral on social media. To read on, click here. Medical condition: R10 million theft case at President Ramaphosa's farm postponed The case against Imanuwela David, Froliana Joseph and Ndilinasho Joseph relating to the break-in and theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm returned to court on Monday. To read on, click here. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. IOL News
IOL News
19-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
How Budget 2025-26 could reshape service delivery and accountability
Supporting low-income families amid fiscal constraints in the upcoming budget" Image: File Analysts have emphasised the need for the National Treasury to allocate more resources toward improving service delivery, complemented by stronger accountability measures to ensure efficiency and transparency as the Finance Minister prepares to present the '3.0 Budget' for the 2025-26 financial year. Among other things, the budget will focus on addressing the significant R75 billion shortfall, which could shape the country's economic future. Kabelo Moutloatse, a tax accounting specialist at Latita Africa, expressed concern over possible adjustments to business taxes in the revised budget. 'Any increase in business taxes could undermine foreign investment confidence and reduce the return on investment (ROI),' he explained. He said businesses might raise prices or cut costs to protect profits. He argued that increasing prices could lead to decreased consumer spending over time, affecting overall turnover. 'Conversely, cost-cutting measures—such as layoffs—could result in job losses, especially for the unemployed and low-income workers. These potential outcomes highlight the importance of carefully balancing fiscal policy to support economic growth and employment.' Supporting Low-Income Families Amid Fiscal Constraints Moutloatse said that another pressing issue is how the government plans to support low-income families, emphasising that with the reversal of the VAT increase, the government will need to find alternative revenue sources to cover the projected shortfall. Moutloatse suggests that prioritising spending on essential services like healthcare, education, and housing is critical to ensuring that vulnerable populations are not left behind. Video Player is loading. 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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Efforts to Reduce Inequality and Support Small Businesses Although the specifics of the revised budget have not yet been released, measures to promote economic inclusion are expected to be included. Moutloatse advocated for increased support for small businesses, particularly those in disadvantaged communities. 'Fostering and nurturing small private enterprises is essential for creating jobs and stimulating economic growth,' he noted. He emphasised that the government should focus on empowering small businesses, key employment drivers, rather than relying solely on direct government employment initiatives. Impact of Tax Policies on Small Vendors and Informal Traders A longstanding concern is the R1 million VAT registration threshold, which has existed for over a decade. 'For many new businesses, reaching R1 million in revenue within 12 months triggers VAT registration,' Moutloatse explained. "However, this threshold may no longer be appropriate as it can unfairly burden small and emerging businesses that are still growing." He added that many small vendors operate informally to avoid tax compliance fears, although they often benefit from lower tax rates available to qualifying small businesses. He stressed that new tax policies should be practical, not just legal formalities, to support small entrepreneurs genuinely. Reassuring Poor Communities and Promoting Poverty Alleviation Moutloatse highlighted the need for the government to reassure poor communities that their needs will be prioritised. 'This requires more targeted resource allocation and effective accountability measures,' he said. According to Moutloatse, potential strategies include expanding affordable youth skills development programs and adopting a realistic approach to job creation, focusing on empowering small private businesses rather than short-term government projects alone. He argued that such measures could provide more sustainable pathways out of poverty. Economist Dawie Roodt said the question was whether there will be a further reduction in the increase on the various social grants and the salary increase for civil servants. 'If you can't cut back on spending on people, then you cut back on spending on capital. Although he is going to say he is going to increase spending on A, B and C, that is probably not going to happen because we simply do not have the money. 'I think what is going to happen is that they will probably borrow more money than what he initially had in mind,' Roodt said. IOL Politics
IOL News
19-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Budget 3. 0: Godongwana's Crucial Task Amid Economic Pressures
As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tables the budget for the third time next week, DA leader has given him thumbs up saying he has succeeded in doing a very good balancing act Image: Picture supplied As South Africa inches closer to the tabling of what is known as the '3.0 Budget' for the 2025-26 financial year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is under immense pressure to address a gaping R75 billion budget shortfall. This marks his third attempt at presenting a budget in just two months, raising expectations and apprehensions alike. Economist Dawie Roodt said Godongwana will certainly make sure that he has the DA on his side and the DA's support for his budget. 'It will be very responsible for the Minister of Finance to go into Parliament without the DA's support. You must get the buy-in of your most important coalition partner, and that of course is the DA,' Roodt said. Video Player is loading. 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Next Stay Close ✕ He also said with the VAT increases scrapped, he did not expect the zero-rating of the proposed additional food items. However, Roodt said the question was whether there will be a further reduction in the increase on the various social grants and the salary increase for civil servants. 'Then lastly, if you can't cut back on spending on people, then you cut back on spending on capital. Although he is going to say he is going to increase spending on A, B and C, that is probably not going to happen because we simply do not have the money. 'I think what is going to happen is that they will probably borrow more money than what he initially had in mind,' Roodt said. DA leader John Steenhuisen was upbeat about the 3.0 Budget despite the country being in a tight fiscal spot. Steenhuisen, who is also the Agriculture minister, said he was comfortable with the budget his department has received. 'I think what Minister Godongwana has succeeded in doing a very good balancing act and I think we're going to see a budget that will pass the House quite easily and we can then get on with the process of building the economy,' he said, adding that they have to see the final budget. 'Certainly what I've seen to date I'm incredibly comfortable with and I think that Minister Godongwana as I said has done a really effective balancing act that will see no extra borrowing and no extra taxation on an already burdened sector, no VAT increase. 'Our people can breathe that sigh of relief and I think that it's a sign that the government has listened to what the people have said and we now have a budget that I think will, it's never going to satisfy everybody but I think it's a good start now for us to have a platform to start growing the economy so we don't end up fighting over who's going to get taxed more, who's getting cut and how we're going to spend. 'We are going to be focusing on what we do with the extra revenue that comes through with the economic growth that we hope we can stimulate,' Steenhuisen said. ActionSA, which is credited for offering the ANC support to pass the fiscal framework last month, called on the Government of National Unity to stop dithering and deliver real, practical reforms in Budget 3.0 to address South Africa's deepening jobs crisis. 'It is time for leadership that prioritises the people — not political deals, not bureaucratic delays, not excuses,' said MP Alan Beesley earlier this week. ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip told the SABC that they were not consulted as they were not part of GNU. 'What we do expect to see, though, is that the Minister takes into account that there's blanket opposition to any form of increased taxation. We also need to see, the government must be prudent in its affairs,' Trollip said. Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane said the budget must demonstrate to the people that there have been the necessary expenditure cuts so that the politicians aren't getting the benefit. 'We have got to see cuts in certain expenditure. We have got to see the eradication of wasteful expenditure. We've got to ensure that more money is directed towards the program that's been expressed in the growth chart,' he said. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula toldthis journalist at the memorial service of late secretary-general Duma Nokwe that his party supported a budget that was pro-growth, that addressed unemployment and that was also pro-poor. It is 'pro-poor in the sense that it seeks to intervene and address what is in the ANC manifesto,' Mbalula said. Cosatu hopes that the government will not disappoint workers and the nation when the revised budget is tabled. 'We cannot afford a return to the brutal austerity budget cuts inspired by a misplaced belief in neo-liberalism that has crippled frontline public services which the working class require to survive,' said Cosatu's parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks. Parks said revenue must be secured by providing the South African Revenue Service the resources it needs to tackle tax evasion and customs fraud. 'SARS must be empowered and tasked to raise tax compliance from 64% to 70% generating over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, thus raising additional R120 billion annually in revenue owed to the state,' he added. FAST COMPANY
IOL News
17-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Godongwana faces budget challenge amid economic pressures
As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tables the budget for the third time next week, DA leader has given him thumbs up saying he has succeeded in doing a very good balancing act Image: Picture supplied As South Africa inches closer to the tabling of what is known as the '3.0 Budget' for the 2025-26 financial year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is under immense pressure to address a gaping R75 billion budget shortfall. This marks his third attempt at presenting a budget in just two months, raising expectations and apprehensions alike. Economist Dawie Roodt said Godongwana will certainly make sure that he has the DA on his side and the DA's support for his budget. 'It will be very responsible for the Minister of Finance to go into Parliament without the DA's support. You must get the buy-in of your most important coalition partner, and that of course is the DA,' Roodt said. Video Player is loading. 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Next Stay Close ✕ He also said with the VAT increases scrapped, he did not expect the zero-rating of the proposed additional food items. However, Roodt said the question was whether there will be a further reduction in the increase on the various social grants and the salary increase for civil servants. 'Then lastly, if you can't cut back on spending on people, then you cut back on spending on capital. Although he is going to say he is going to increase spending on A, B and C, that is probably not going to happen because we simply do not have the money. 'I think what is going to happen is that they will probably borrow more money than what he initially had in mind,' Roodt said. DA leader John Steenhuisen was upbeat about the 3.0 Budget despite the country being in a tight fiscal spot. Steenhuisen, who is also the Agriculture minister, said he was comfortable with the budget his department has received. 'I think what Minister Godongwana has succeeded in doing a very good balancing act and I think we're going to see a budget that will pass the House quite easily and we can then get on with the process of building the economy,' he said, adding that they have to see the final budget. 'Certainly what I've seen to date I'm incredibly comfortable with and I think that Minister Godongwana as I said has done a really effective balancing act that will see no extra borrowing and no extra taxation on an already burdened sector, no VAT increase. 'Our people can breathe that sigh of relief and I think that it's a sign that the government has listened to what the people have said and we now have a budget that I think will, it's never going to satisfy everybody but I think it's a good start now for us to have a platform to start growing the economy so we don't end up fighting over who's going to get taxed more, who's getting cut and how we're going to spend. 'We are going to be focusing on what we do with the extra revenue that comes through with the economic growth that we hope we can stimulate,' Steenhuisen said. ActionSA, which is credited for offering the ANC support to pass the fiscal framework last month, called on the Government of National Unity to stop dithering and deliver real, practical reforms in Budget 3.0 to address South Africa's deepening jobs crisis. 'It is time for leadership that prioritises the people — not political deals, not bureaucratic delays, not excuses,' said MP Alan Beesley earlier this week. ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip told the SABC that they were not consulted as they were not part of GNU. 'What we do expect to see, though, is that the Minister takes into account that there's blanket opposition to any form of increased taxation. We also need to see, the government must be prudent in its affairs,' Trollip said. Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane said the budget must demonstrate to the people that there have been the necessary expenditure cuts so that the politicians aren't getting the benefit. 'We have got to see cuts in certain expenditure. We have got to see the eradication of wasteful expenditure. We've got to ensure that more money is directed towards the program that's been expressed in the growth chart,' he said. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula toldthis journalist at the memorial service of late secretary-general Duma Nokwe that his party supported a budget that was pro-growth, that addressed unemployment and that was also pro-poor. It is 'pro-poor in the sense that it seeks to intervene and address what is in the ANC manifesto,' Mbalula said. Cosatu hopes that the government will not disappoint workers and the nation when the revised budget is tabled. 'We cannot afford a return to the brutal austerity budget cuts inspired by a misplaced belief in neo-liberalism that has crippled frontline public services which the working class require to survive,' said Cosatu's parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks. Parks said revenue must be secured by providing the South African Revenue Service the resources it needs to tackle tax evasion and customs fraud. 'SARS must be empowered and tasked to raise tax compliance from 64% to 70% generating over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, thus raising additional R120 billion annually in revenue owed to the state,' he added.
