WATCH | Budget breakdown: SAA, 'borrowing R2.1bn daily' and mooted public sector wage freezes

Finance minister Tito Mboweni presented his medium-term budget policy statement to the nation on Wednesday, starting off his review by saying that SA today is fiscally the same as in 1994. He likened the damage and impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the country to that of the apartheid regime.

The review set out to provide a clearer picture of how the country would recover from the economic ramifications caused by the global pandemic. With soaring debt, rising unemployment and economic uncertainty, many described his speech as a “balancing act”.

With the economy likely to contract by just under 10% at the end of this year, Mboweni will likely have to find funding from every conceivable source to keep the economy afloat. Mboweni says it is up to every citizen to shape a new destiny for the country — despite uncertainty lurking.

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