By Kouthar Sambo
Ahead of the national budget in parliament, which takes place on Wednesday, 19 Feb (2025), analysts and critics condemned plans to raise personal, corporate, or value-added taxes.
This comes after analysts predict that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana may have to increase taxes to improvise for the shortfall.
Economist Ulrich Joubert spoke of VOC’s PM Drive show, stating that “There is no room for tax increases, given the current performance of the economy.”
“If this move is in the works, tax increases are bad news – this applies across all economies – including tax increases on companies. The performance of the economy is so poor that we cannot afford tax increases,” asserted Joubert.
“At the same time, if taxes are not increased, it means the government must evaluate its expenditure because its income isn’t doing the job. Minister Godongwana must outline how the government will control expenditure, and we already know that the wage agreement is above the target they set themselves,” he added.
Photo: @Treasury_RSA/X
