CAPE TOWN - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will be walking a tightrope.
He’ll be performing a difficult balancing act when he delivers his medium-term budget policy statement on Wednesday.
READ: Medium-term budget speech | R50bn revenue shortfall expected
Sluggish economic growth, ballooning debt, loss of revenue and never-ending power cuts continue to collapse the struggling economy.
This is Godongwana’s most challenging medium-term budget policy statement ahead of next year’s crucial elections.
Despite repeated calls to cut unnecessary spending by those running the county’s fiscus, these will be difficult to achieve ahead of a do-or-die general election next year.
The only solution to the country’s socio-economic challenges -- including skyrocketing unemployment, poverty and inequality -- remains economic growth.
READ: Medium-term budget speech | Austerity measures expected to dominate statement
But how we achieve that is anyone’s guess.
* eNCA’s Siphamandla Goge reports.