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Minister Godongwana confirms budget speech will proceed as planned

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has promised that the 2026 Budget Speech will be delivered without any hiccups next month.

“There would not be a repeat of last year’s fiasco, which saw the budget speech postponed for the first time in South Africa’s democratic history,” he said.

The delay last year was due to members of the Government of National Unity (GNU) being unable to reach a consensus on key issues.

A lesson was learnt from last year’s delay, and the finance department is working with the relevant parties to ensure a smooth, well-supported budget speech.

Minister Godongwana mentioned that South Africa’s message to the world this year is fundamentally different from previous years.

“We have been making promises that several things are going to change in South Africa. We said we were going to come out of the grey listing. We are out,” he mentioned.

“We said we would reach a peak in debt and begin to bring it down as a percentage of GDP, and we have achieved that.”

All the developments stated by the Minister are aimed at continually strengthening South Africa, further attracting investments from global capital.

Amid various geopolitical threats, it is notable that South Africa remains a progressing and stabilising economy, attracting continued investment. The upcoming 2026 Budget Speech will be delivered by Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, in the National Assembly.

Also see: SA announced as host for 2027 World Economic Forum Summit

Feature Image: Gettys

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