Budget did not slay the holy elephant

The elephant in the government spending room once again remained unscathed in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's income and revenue plans for 2025-26.

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Yesterday, if anything, the huge beast got even larger.

The government's spending on civil service salaries sucks up a massive chunk of annual revenues and economists are virtually unanimous on their assessment that the productivity from these people comes nowhere near justifying the money spent on them.

Yet, for years, the ANC has resisted taking a pruning knife to government employment and, even now, despite being part of a multiparty government of national unity (GNU), still appears to hold sway when refusing to slaughter that particular holy elephant.

Godongwana admitted that the three-year wage increase deal negotiated with civil servants last year would cost a lot extra... and then tried to justify it by saying that at least the fixed term period brought certainty to planning.