ANC Praises Mini-Budget as Foundation for Growth, Stability and Social Protection

The African National Congress (ANC) has thrown its full support behind Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), delivered last week, calling it proof that fiscal discipline and social justice can advance together under an ANC-led government.

In a detailed essay published in the party’s weekly newsletter, ANC Today, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula argued that the budget provides the macroeconomic foundation required to drive the party’s 2024 manifesto commitments, which include putting South Africans to work, lowering the cost of living, and supporting investment in people and industry.

Mbalula said the ANC welcomes the minister’s policy stance, particularly the decision to prioritise infrastructure spending on water, rail, ports, roads, and electricity. These investments, he argued, are essential to lifting growth, expanding industrial activity, and creating employment. He added that this focus aligns with the ANC’s ten economic priorities adopted by its national executive committee in October, including fast-tracking investment in the transmission grid, strengthening state capacity to manage large projects, and expanding support for township and rural economies.

A central theme of the MTBPS is the improved fiscal position, driven in part by higher-than-expected tax receipts. Mbalula emphasised the importance of ongoing compliance and called for further strengthening of the South African Revenue Service’s enforcement capacity. A R40 billion revenue overrun recorded in the first quarter of 2025–26 was presented as evidence of improved efficiency and the benefits of combating illicit trade.

The medium-term framework, he argued, creates space to maintain the real value of social grants, continue public employment programmes and subsidise basic services for vulnerable households.

Mbalula stressed the need for complementary reforms to break the cycle of low growth and failing infrastructure. These include improving municipal finances, tightening procurement oversight, rooting out corruption, and sharpening the state’s project-delivery capabilities.

The ANC statement concludes that the MTBPS offers a positive roadmap but urges the coalition government to show determination and discipline, arguing that consensus-building across society is necessary to achieve faster and more inclusive growth.