Pretoria: Cabinet has reiterated that the postponement of the tabling of the National Budget from 19 February to 12 March is a result of efforts by Cabinet 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.
According to South African Government News Agency, the postponement, while the first in the history of South Africa, is not out of the norm in other jurisdictions and is still within the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). Cabinet made this statement after its meeting on Wednesday. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was initially scheduled to outline the financial, economic, and social commitments that the government would prioritize in its planned expenditure as part of the 2025 Budget Speech. However, in an unprecedented move, it was postponed for further deliberation.
The annual budget is tabled by the Minister of Finance but requires Cabinet deliberation before it is presented in the National Assembly. Godongwana emphasized at a media briefing after the postponement that although the budget was scheduled for release at 2 pm on 19 February 2025, a postponement is necessary to allow for more comprehensive discussions. Cabinet is united in the belief that the budget must balance public interest, economic growth, and fiscal sustainability. The budget is produced and presented before the National Assembly following the rules outlined in the Public Finance Management Act. During the Budget Speech, the Finance Minister specifies the allocation of financial resources to national government priorities as outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the State of the Nation Address.
Meanwhile, Cabinet welcomed the upward trajectory in employment creation following the second consecutive drop in the unemployment rate, marking the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2023. The country’s unemployment rate decreased to 31.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 32.1% in the previous quarter. The number of employed people increased by 132,000 to 17.1 million, while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 20,000 to eight million during the same quarter.
Employment over the quarter increased in four of the 10 industries surveyed by Statistics South Africa, including finance (232,000), manufacturing (41,000), private households (18,000), and transport (17,000). Cabinet affirmed the government’s commitment to creating jobs with a special focus on youth employment programmes. Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme, nearly 2.2 million work opportunities have been created for young people.