Enoch Godongwana's MTBPS highlighted tax hikes tempered by an extension to the Social Relief of Distress grant.

With South Africa's debt service costs now the fastest-growing public finance expenditure it's unsurprising Wednesday's Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) signalled tax hikes totalling R15-billion to be announced in the February 2024 Budget.

But Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana budgeted another year of the R350 monthly Social Relief of Distress grant, which now ends in March 2025 - with the condition that the government pursues broad social security reform.

In the face of sharp civil society and labour criticism over expenditure cuts this grant extension is an important response on social protection that the MTBPS hammers home - 61% of the non-interest government spending goes to the social wage through health, education, housing and grants.

With a nod to the Springboks, Godongwana in his prepared speech told MPs: "I am convinced that if we are united and remain committed to this trajectory that will lift up our growth prospects, we leverage the power of the collective, and persevere in this difficult environment, we will come out victorious."

But the grim fact is that servicing debt is the fastest-growing government expenditure. In the current 2023/24 financial year, R354.5-billion must go to pay interest on debt - slightly more than R14-billion than was...