{"id":880781,"date":"2026-10-21T14:46:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T12:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=880781"},"modified":"2026-10-21T14:46:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T12:46:30","slug":"2026-medium-term-budget-in-a-nutshell-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/budget-speech\/880781\/2026-medium-term-budget-in-a-nutshell-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Medium-Term Budget in a nutshell \u2013 what you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced temporary fuel levy relief, increased funding for municipalities and social services, and directed additional resources to fight crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comes as Godongwana said the government is looking to ease pressure on households while stabilising South Africa\u2019s public finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delivering the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), Godongwana said the government\u2019s fiscal consolidation measures were beginning to produce results, despite weaker economic growth and continued global uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe difficult choices of the past few years were made for a purpose. To restore stability today so that we can build a faster-growing, more inclusive and more resilient economy tomorrow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s economic growth forecast for 2026 has been revised down to 1.2%, from the 1.6% projected in February. Higher fuel prices, geopolitical conflict and the effects of El Ni\u00f1o have weighed on the outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth is expected to improve to 1.6% in 2027 and reach 2% by 2029. Despite the weaker outlook, the government has made progress in stabilising its finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debt-to-GDP ratio stabilised at 78.4% in the 2025\/26 financial year and has started to decline, marking a significant milestone after years of rising debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDebt as a percentage of GDP is now falling, creating a stronger foundation for investment, growth and job creation,\u201d Godongwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget deficit is expected to narrow to 3.9% of GDP in the current financial year, better than the 4% forecast in February. It is projected to decline further to 2.5% by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary budget surplus, which measures government revenue against spending excluding debt-service costs, is expected to increase from 1.7% of GDP to nearly 3% by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tax revenue estimates for 2026\/27 have also been revised upwards by R17.1 billion, supported by corporate income tax, VAT and higher commodity prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government expenditure is expected to rise from R2.7 trillion this year to R3 trillion by 2029\/30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Temporary fuel relief\u00a0from November<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Godongwana announced a temporary reduction in fuel levies worth R10 billion, aimed at cushioning households and businesses against higher fuel costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 4 November to 1 December 2026, the fuel levy will be reduced by R3 per litre for diesel and R1.50 per litre for petrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1 December 2026 to 5 January 2027, the relief will continue at R1.50 per litre for diesel and R1 per litre for petrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reductions are intended to provide temporary relief without undermining the government\u2019s efforts to improve the public finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis intervention will help ease cost of living pressures without compromising the sustainability of the budget,\u201d Godongwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Social grants and child nutrition receive support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Social spending remains a major part of the budget, accounting for 60% of non-interest expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 11 million households benefit from free basic services, including water, electricity, sanitation and refuse removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government funding also supports 18.1 million social grant beneficiaries through old-age, disability and child support grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has allocated R1.6 billion over the medium term for child nutrition, with a focus on maternal care and the first 1,000 days of a child\u2019s life to help prevent malnutrition and stunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More resources to fight crime and gender-based violence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Godongwana announced R3.8 billion to recruit more than 3,500 social workers to prevent gender-based violence and support affected people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of sexual offence courts is expected to increase from 55 to 101, while Thuthuzela Care Centres, which assist rape survivors, will expand from 72 to 80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A further R810 million has been allocated to recapitalise the South African Police Service vehicle fleet, with R823 million set aside for military deployments targeting gang violence and illegal mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Digital services and municipalities get funding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The government also plans to spend R150 million developing the MyMzansi app, a digital platform intended to give citizens access to government services through their smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipalities will receive an additional R3.5 billion over the medium term for smart meter rollouts, which are intended to improve billing accuracy and help municipalities manage electricity distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local government’s equitable share will also receive an additional R21.8 billion to support basic services. Godongwana said municipal funding must translate into practical improvements for residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery rand transferred to municipalities must translate into visible improvements in people’s daily lives,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has presented the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS)\u2014these are the big takeaways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":816531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2112888396330766740","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2244398959713836","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18137599390628931","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13716],"tags":[21799,17575,3796,853],"class_list":["post-880781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget-speech","tag-finance-minister-enoch-godongwana","tag-medium-term-budget-policy-statement-mtbps","tag-national-treasury","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880781"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880797,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880781\/revisions\/880797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}