Crime and looting have left the state with no choice but to step in at three State Owned Entities.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his medium-term budget address, that this will take the form of a once-off bail out.

To this end, Treasury will be tabling a Special Appropriation Bill to provide extra funding to Denel, Transnet, and Sanral.

These have all seen a decline, while the latter two have been drastically affected by sabotage, natural disasters, and cyber-crime. Minister Godongwana says that these SOEs must be bolstered to contribute to long-term growth prospects.

Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant

He also announced the extension of the Social Relief of Distress grant to the end of March 2024.

But Section 27’s data budget analyst, Daniel McLaren says that while this is welcomed, the value of the grant has not increased in line with inflation. He contends that the mere R 350 will not be able to starve off hunger for much longer.

Silence over high cost of living

While this remains a problem, the longer form of the medium-term budget acknowledges the impact of the high cost of fuel and food. But the budget does not make any adjustments to cushion the impact to the ordinary South African.