Cabinet claims Budget Speech delay a result of 'funding challenges'

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Cabinet will have South Africans believe that the postponement of the tabling of the National Budget from 19 February to 12 March is a result of efforts by it to collectively address the nation’s funding challenges within a constrained fiscal environment.

Cabinet on Thursday assured South Africans that deliberations within cabinet on the 2025 National Budget are continuing to determine the best ways to fund the national priorities and ensure that the budget reflects the aspirations of all South Africans.�

Unprecedented move

“The postponement, while it is the first in the history of South Africa, but not out of the norm in other jurisdictions, is still within the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA),” cabinet said in a statement after it met on Wednesday.�

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was scheduled to outline the financial, economic and social commitments that government would prioritise in its planned expenditure as part of the 2025 Budget Speech.

However, in an unprecedented move, it was postponed for further deliberation.

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“The annual budget is tabled by the Minister of Finance but it requires the deliberation of the Cabinet before it is tabled in the National Assembly.

“Cabinet considered that although the tabling of the 2025 budget was scheduled for release at 14:00 on 19 February 2025, a postponement is needed to allow for further deliberations to take place on the budget.

“Cabinet is united in the view that the budget must strike a balance between the interests of the public, economic growth and fiscal sustainability,” Godongwana said at a media briefing after the postponement.

Furthermore, the budget is produced and presented before the National Assembly according to the rules outlined in the Public Finance Management Act.

During the Budget Speech, the Finance Minister indicates the allocation of financial resources to the national government’s priorities outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the State of the Nation Address.