We’re collecting less money than we estimated - five things you need to know from Godongwana’s speech

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is delivering the mid-term budget speech. Here are five things you need to know: 

1. Tax collection for 2024/25 is expected to be R22.3 billion lower than what we estimated in February.
2. Over the next two years, the main budget revenue estimate has also been lowered by R31.2 billion.
3. Debt-service costs will reach R388.9 billion in the current financial year. Put differently, this means for every one Rand of revenue that government raises this year, 22 cents of this is paid in debt-service costs.
4. As things stand, 50 of the 257 municipalities in the country have active financial recovery plans. Three municipalities are under national intervention and these are Mangaung, Enoch Mgijima and Lekwa. This situation is untenable.
5. Between March and August 2024, compliance with relief conditions by municipalities improved from 55 per cent to 76 per cent, aided by the National Treasury, Provincial Treasuries, and the Municipal Finance Improvement Programme.

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