SARS boost to hunt more taxpayers, and Post Office plan to block couriers

The South African rand fell on Wednesday (12 March) as disagreements within the GNU continued despite the finance minister reducing the size of a controversial tax hike in a revised budget.

This budget represents the biggest challenge for South Africa’s divided coalition politics, with political parties clashing over a proposal to increase the value-added tax.

The rand was trading at 18.42 against the dollar, down more than 1.1% from Tuesday’s closing level.

Zain Vawda, a market analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA, said the budget is viewed as ‘kicking the can down the road.’

The tabled budget offered little resolution and raised concerns about whether the government can achieve consensus. He further noted that this political uncertainty contributes to the rand’s weakness.

On Thursday (13 March), the rand was trading at R18.33 to the dollar, R23.76 to the pound and R19.96 to the euro. Oil is trading lower at $70.90 a barrel.

Here are five other news stories making waves in South Africa today:

SARS taxpayer hunt boost: Following SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter’s argument that he needs more funding to collect more tax, the National Treasury has increased the size of the revenue service budget by R4 billion, bringing the total over the next three years to R7.5 billion. [Business Day]

Post Office monopoly plan: Minister of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi intends to review the South African Post Office’s (Sapo’s) monopoly on certain postal services, including delivery of parcels weighing less than 1kg, which would mean no person other than the Post Office may provide postal services. [MyBroadband]

Budget 2025: Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the budget on Wednesday. The budget addressed several key points, including the country’s current economic status, growth projections, substantial debt servicing costs, proposed increases in VAT and sin taxes, and the continuation of the social relief grant while no adjustments to personal income brackets were made. [BusinessTech]

A big development for Electric cars: South Africa will spend R1 billion to support the local production of new-energy vehicles and batteries, as well as related manufacturing projects, the National Treasury said on Wednesday. The incentive is expected to attract R30 billion in investment from the private sector. [Engineering News]

Starlink clap back: South Africa has dismissed claims by billionaire Elon Musk that his Starlink satellite company is unable to operate in the country due to his race. The telecom regulator, Icasa, stated that Starlink has not even applied for a license. [Times Live]