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Person holding rands
Market analysts expect the rand to remain under pressure following the postponement of the tabling of the main budget by the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana.
Makwe Masilela, founder of Makwe Fund Managers, says the rand weakened due to the budget presentation postponement.
The Budget Speech will now be delivered on the 12 March 2025.
The rand declined over 0.8 percent since the markets opened.
The local bourse has also traded in the red, with the all-share index reversing its recent all-time high of over 89 000 index points.
“Look at the rand itself, it just weakened over a percent and as much as we have good expectations about the workings and functions of the Government of National Unity. It just starts to show that there are some serious disagreements and its worrisome when those disagreements happen on such an important thing. This is something that should have been communicated way before. And remember that the ones who have said that particular date, that this whole budget will be tabled today. So, it’s not looking good at all.”
Meanwhile, some residents in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, have expressed disappointment over the postponement of the budget speech. Others say they wanted Godongwana to explain how the government intends to respond to service delivery challenges and creation of job opportunities.
“We feel bad about that, because the money that’s supposed to help the community, now it’s wasted. And now the transport, which the ministers, they are using, is the money for the taxpayers. So, we feel bad.”
“We are very disappointed as South Africans, given the fact that now we have a current situation of unemployment and the youth is not working. It’s very difficult for the government not to respond early. We’re looking to get information from the government regarding their finances.”
