The Finance Minister who walked into the RMB Think Budget briefing on Thursday, 13 November, bore a markedly different demeanour to the man who was forced to take the Budget back to the drawing board twice in May before it was accepted by the Government of National Unity.

The Finance Minister who walked into the RMB Think Budget briefing on Thursday, 13 November, bore a markedly different demeanour to the man who was forced to take the Budget back to the drawing board twice in May before it was accepted by the Government of National Unity.

At the age of 68, donning his signature jaunty hat (always with a feather), Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana carries a quiet strength that should not be underestimated. Those at the RMB Think Budget breakfast had the opportunity to hear his thoughts on the process leading up to the Medium-Term Budget, what informed the measures adopted by National Treasury and his candid opinion on several other matters.

In a loose adaptation of a Karl Marx quote, Godongwana started his address by noting that "we are making changes, but we do so in circumstances not of our choosing".

"Nobody predicted before the elections that we are likely to have a coalition government," he said, noting that, as an example, the issues around the Budget earlier this year "had nothing to do with the substance of the Budget and everything to do with the disagreement of the parties on certain policy positions."

This time around,...