There’s continued reason to remain optimistic that South Africa is on a course correction to plot a new route to renewed opportunity for prosperity after Moody’s upgraded the country’s credit status from negative to stable on Friday.
While it’s a far cry from where you’d like to see the country, it is a sign that things are turning around and shows what a difference a few years can make, writes Lukanyo Mnyanda.
The Business Day editor pens that while the change means we’re still two rungs below investment grade, the ‘upgrade’ to stable is a change from two years ago when the country had just entered a hard lockdown and a slide into the “high risk” single B category was a point of discussion.
Mnyanda writes that government gets credit from Moody’s for limiting its wage bill and resisting pressure from unions, something many thought it would not be able to do.
He continues by stating that the move by Moody’s is a vote of confidence in finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s attempts to restore credibility to the budget process and Moody’s expressing confidence that government will stick to its debt consolidation plans.
For the first time in many years, the government limited the wage bill growth to just 1.6% – well below inflation.
This was the main reason for the reduction in the primary deficit, which came in at more than 2% higher than Moody’s expected.
This together with tax collection that was boosted by commodities boon allowed SA Revenue Service commissioner Edward Kieswetter to state on Friday that SARS had collected nearly R200 billion more in tax revenue than was forecast in the 2021 budget.
The tax haul for accounting for the period April 2021 and March 2022 saw SARS collect R1.5 trillion, representing a 25% increase compared to last year and a 15% increase compared to the last year pre-dating the pandemic.
This moved Cyril Ramaphosa to share his thoughts on SARS in his weekly address where he writes that the revenue collection service is taking the wind out of the sails of criminals, tax dodgers, and those involved in corrupt activities.
“As we forge ahead with efforts to strengthen the capacity of the state and rebuild institutions that were systematically weakened by state capture, we have much to learn from what SARS has achieved in a relatively short space of time.”
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
JUSTICE MALALA | Those behind July unrest will never be booked … and they’ll run riot again – Sunday Times Daily (subscribe to read)
EDITORIAL | The state has played fair with fuel.
It must do the same with food – Sunday Times Daily (subscribe to read)
WILLIAM GUMEDE | Oil and gas opportunities will come knocking, but will Africa answer? – Sunday Times Daily (subscribe to read)
Dropping the fuel price by R1.50 is a small mercy, but we’ll take it – The Citizen (for subscribers)
Masemola can change SA’s path by instilling trust in police – Business Day
Adriaan Basson | 5 survival tips for the new police chief, General Fannie Masemola – News24 (for subscribers)
BUSISIWE MAVUSO: SA held hostage by corruption – Business Day (for subscribers)
Russia’s war with Ukraine: Five reasons why many African countries choose to be ‘neutral’ – The Conversation
ANC faces storm of power struggles if forced to form a coalition government – Daily Maverick
