The African National Congress (ANC) has outlined its expectations for the 2026 National Budget, tabled by the Minister of Finance, as the country experiences renewed economic momentum and growing confidence. With inflation moderated, the rand strengthened, and bond yields eased, the economy is moving upward, supported by improved macroeconomic stability and declining risk premiums.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect the Budget to consolidate fiscal stability, accelerate structural reform, and decisively advance inclusive growth, job creation and social protection,\u201d said Mahlengi Bhengu, ANC National Spokesperson.<\/p>\n
According to Bhengu, \u201cThis budget is not just about figures and allocations; it is about the lived experiences of our people, addressing historical injustices, and ensuring that economic transformation remains at the centre of governance\u201d.<\/p>\n
The stabilisation of public debt as a percentage of GDP, marks a turning point after years of fiscal strain. With
\nthe main budget deficit projected to narrow from 4.5 percent, the ANC looks to the Budget to translate this
\nhard-won stability into expanded developmental capacity rather than reduced service delivery.<\/p>\n
The party expects the Budget to build on the projected economic growth in 2026, rising up to 2% by 2028, by intensifying reforms in electricity, logistics, water, and industrial development.<\/p>\n
Key areas of focus include infrastructure development, with priority areas such as energy transmission expansion, rail freight modernisation, water security, housing, and municipal bulk infrastructure. \u201cInfrastructure must remain central to economic recovery,\u201d Bhengu emphasized.<\/p>\n
Progress in enabling increased investment into private renewable energy generation demonstrates the impact
\nof reform. However, continued delays in grid allocation, logistics reform and water sector legislation, must be
\nresolved with urgency. The ANC anticipates clearer timeframes and strengthened administrative capacity to
\novercome legal and operational bottlenecks that constrain growth.<\/p>\n
“Protecting the social wage remains paramount with more than 60 per cent of consolidated spending
\nsupporting health, education, social protection and employment programmes. Protecting the poor will
\ncontinue with allocations to extend the Social Relief of Distress grant until 2027 providing necessary relief to
\nvulnerable households. The ANC anticipates that the redesign of this grant will strengthen pathways to skills
\ndevelopment, livelihoods and productive economic participation while safeguarding dignity.”<\/p>\n
The ANC also stresses the importance of strengthening public ownership of strategic state assets and safeguarding state control, constitutional accountability, and the developmental mandate of government. \u201cAny partnership model must safeguard state control, constitutional accountability and the developmental mandate of government,\u201d Bhengu stated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The African National Congress (ANC) has outlined its expectations for the 2026 National Budget, tabled<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":988,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions\/988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}