SACCI Press Release
Thursday
26 February 2026
SACCI Media Statement: Budget Speech 2026
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) notes the budget presentation by the Minister of Finance.
Under the difficult economic circumstances, the Minister tried to find balance in his expenditure allocation, given the revenue constraints.
The reduced debt servicing outlook is a welcome development.
The reform initiatives in government will require investment to enable scientifically and data driven capacity to drive sustainable improvements, efficiencies and insights into government expenditure.
Whilst billions continue to be spent on social services like education, health and security, the return in terms of quality services in these areas remains unclear as a significant number of tax payers continue to spend their already taxed income on basic services such as private security, private education, high insurance premiums on vehicles and possessions due to high crime and lack of universal access to quality public goods.
Most of this personal expenditure should be going into savings or the purchase of real goods and services to fuel and drive the growth of the real economy.
The expenditure is still weighted heavily in favour of social development spending (R446bn) compared to economic development (R283bn) investment expenditure. We need to be spending more money in building the economy and creating job opportunities and tax revenues, given the challenges of high unemployment and low economic growth that South Africa faces.
The increase in the VAT threshold is a positive step, and this together with the ceiling for capital gains tax will be good for small business development and investment. We should continue to look for and encourage a positive progression in this area to support development and investment in small business.
The opportunity presented by proposed public-privatepartnerships (PPP) review is a positive step to unleash private sector investment and significantly boost infrastructure development and job creation.
Overall, the minister did not have much room to maneuverer.
Contact: Alan Mukoki SACCI CEO Cell: 082 551 1159