Source: President of South Africa –
Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thoko Didiza,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Honourable Members,
Fellow South Africans,
Thirty years ago, the people of South Africa adopted a Constitution that transformed our country from a divided past into a democratic future.
That Constitution remains our national covenant. It is the foundation upon which we are building a society founded on freedom, dignity, equality and opportunity for all.
The Constitution mirrors the hopes and aspirations of the millions of South Africans who played a direct role in drafting it.
Our Constitution reflects the desire of our people for a government that is responsive, open and accountable.
The Constitution reflects our people’s desire for a democracy where all three spheres of government serve the public interest, where power is exercised in accordance with the law, and where those entrusted with authority are subject to scrutiny and oversight.
This Presidency Budget Vote is the first to be considered since the National Assembly’s Committee on The Presidency was established in December 2025.
The Presidency welcomes the establishment of the Committee and members of this House can be assured of our full support for its work.
Strengthening parliamentary oversight is good for transparency, accountability and our democracy.
The Presidency occupies a unique place within Government in that it is not a service delivery department.
The Presidency does not build roads, deliver water or supply medicines to clinics.
The Presidency is not simply a coordinating institution.
It is the strategic centre from which Government drives implementation, resolves blockages, mobilises partnerships and ensures that the commitments we make to the people of South Africa are translated into tangible results.
The Presidency’s key role is:
Firstly, to drive inclusive growth and job creation.
Secondly, to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living.
Thirdly, to build a capable, ethical and developmental state.
The Presidency ensures that the efforts of departments, provinces, municipalities and social partners are coordinated, focused and directed towards the achievement of our developmental objectives.
Because The Presidency’s role is strategic rather than operational, its budget necessarily differs from those of frontline departments.
Unlike frontline departments whose budgets are primarily directed towards service delivery, The Presidency’s mandate is to provide strategic leadership across the entire State.
Its resources are therefore invested in long-term planning, policy coordination, evidence-based decision-making, performance monitoring and implementation oversight.
These functions are indispensable to ensuring that public resources are used effectively, that Government programmes deliver measurable outcomes and that the priorities of the nation are translated into action.
During the course of this financial year, The Presidency will focus its work on the priorities set out in the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The first priority we set out in SONA is to grow the economy and create jobs.
Following years of challenges, our economy is on the mend.
The macroeconomic environment has improved, tax collection revenues remain strong, public finances are in better shape and national debt has stabilised.
Last week, the ratings agency Moody’s lifted South Africa’s rating outlook from stable to positive. This comes six months after S&P lifted South Africa’s credit rating for the first time in two decades.
With dedicated investment expertise, The Presidency continues to coordinate the national investment drive.
In March, we held a successful 6th South Africa Investment Conference, where we secured pledges in excess of R890 billion in industries across the economy.
Significantly, a substantial portion of investment commitments were from domestic investors. When local investors show confidence in the prospects of the economy, international investors follow suit.
Economic growth is not an end in itself. Its purpose is to create work, restore hope and expand opportunity. Every investment secured, every infrastructure project completed and every reform implemented must ultimately improve the lives of ordinary South Africans.
The Presidency is also working with the relevant department to protect jobs in the auto, cement, steel and other distressed sectors.
We have embarked on the largest infrastructure build in South Africa’s history.
Over the next three years, the state will be investing R1 trillion in building and refurbishing roads, dams, schools, hospitals and clinics, as well as energy, logistics and transportation infrastructure.
The Presidency is coordinating efforts to broaden markets for South African goods.
We are strengthening our trade relations with our main trading partners, including a number of countries on the African continent, the European Union, the United States and China, while expanding the diversity and volume of our exports to other parts of the world.
For close to two decades, load shedding was one of the single largest constraints to economic growth and social development.
Through the National Energy Crisis Committee – and thanks to the efforts of Eskom, Government departments and social partners – the country has recorded more than a year without load shedding.
Eskom has returned to financial and operational viability.
New capacity continues to be added to the national grid including from renewables.
We are now working to bring load reduction experienced by communities in many municipalities to an end.
Through the focused work of Transnet, supported by the National Logistics Crisis Committee, the performance of our railways and ports is improving.
This is helping to ease longstanding bottlenecks across key economic sectors like mining, agriculture and manufacturing.
We are also seeing progress in other economic sectors.
For example, between January and March this year, agriculture recorded an 11 percent increase in export earnings compared to the same period last year.
South Africa is now the world’s largest exporter of citrus by volume.
Access to productive land is essential to further grow our agricultural output, create jobs and lift people out of poverty.
Over time, government has acquired around 2.5 million hectares of land under the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy programme.
This land has generally been leased to beneficiaries on a short-term basis, which limits their ability to borrow money, invest in the land, grow agricultural production and contribute to the rural economy.
As part of our efforts to revitalise rural economies, to strengthen land rights and support the inclusion of black farmers in commercial agriculture, we have embarked on a concerted programme to release this land with title deeds to deserving beneficiaries.
The Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development will outline the details of the programme to convert agricultural leases to title deeds.
In other areas of the economy, such as tourism, there is significant growth.
South Africa recorded 10.5 million international tourist arrivals last year, which is the highest number of visitors on record.
And in the first quarter of this year, tourist arrivals were up by more than 12 percent compared to the same period last year.
These are some of the indicators of progress in pursuit of inclusive growth that creates jobs.
They are the building blocks upon which investments are being secured and opportunities are being created for the people of South Africa.
Even while there is clear progress, events far from our shores are threatening to slow our emerging economic recovery.
The attack by the United States and Israel on Iran – and the conflict that has now engulfed much of the region – has set off a global oil crisis.
The effects of the surge in oil prices – and of other critical supplies like fertiliser – are likely to undermine much of the progress we had made in bringing down inflation and the cost of living.
Together with disruptions to the global economy, these developments are likely in the immediate term to slow economic growth and hamper our efforts to create jobs.
We should anticipate that conditions will be difficult for the next while.
These developments are unfolding as the latest employment figures from Stats SA show a decline in employment in the last quarter.
We know from experience that it often takes time for investment to translate into economic growth, and for growth to translate into jobs.
But we must still be deeply concerned about the decline in employment, because it is about people’s lives and livelihoods.
These difficulties underline the urgency of the work we are doing. We must move faster and with greater focus to implement our priority actions.
Another of the priorities we identified in SONA is to fight crime and corruption.
We continue to rebuild and strengthen our law enforcement agencies, security services, National Prosecuting Authority and specialised anti-corruption bodies.
A critical area of focus is the South African Police Service.
We look forward to receiving the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System which is chaired by Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
The findings and recommendations of the Commission are expected to bolster our efforts to strengthen the SAPS.
The work of the Commission is already having an impact.
Following the submission of the Commission’s first interim report in December last year, the South African Police Service, working with the National Prosecuting Authority, set up a special task team to investigate referrals arising from the Commission.
This task team has begun its work in earnest and has already brought a number of cases to court.
We must be unequivocal: public office is a public trust.
Those who abuse public resources for private gain betray the Constitution, undermine development and steal from the poor.
There will be no tolerance for corruption, regardless of position, status or political affiliation.
The Presidency continues to oversee and coordinate the implementation of the recommendations of the State Capture Commission.
Of the 60 actions contained in our implementation plan, 80 percent are complete, substantially complete or on track.
The recoveries by law enforcement linked to the work of the Commission now stand at over R17 billion.
Ten new Acts have been passed to close the gaps that state capture exploited.
These include acts to enable prosecution-led investigation of corruption, reform public procurement, professionalise public administration and overhaul our intelligence services.
Cabinet recently approved for public comment a draft Bill to amend the Protected Disclosures Act. This Bill aims to strengthen the protection of whistleblowers and is a vital pillar of our fight against corruption.
The Presidency is at the forefront of mobilising South Africans from all walks of life behind the national effort to end violence against women.
It exercises stewardship over the implementation of the National Strategic Plan to combat Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
In November last year, gender-based violence and femicide was classified as a national disaster, and Cabinet has approved an action plan to tackle this crisis and commit the necessary resources.
Prevention is our priority. We are therefore increasing our efforts to promote positive masculinity, focused on boys and young men in schools, communities and organisations.
We continue to strengthen the response of the police, prosecutors and courts, and are improving support and care for survivors of gender-based violence.
Another important area is the economic empowerment of women through capacity building, improved access to public procurement and greater involvement in the value chains of key industries.
As we work to build a safer, more stable and more prosperous society, we need to address the challenge of migration.
When it is well managed and regulated, migration can help drive growth and opportunity for South Africans.
However, we need to deal with illegal migration.
We have seen how illegal immigration can put pressure on our public services and undermine our efforts to create decent work.
As announced in SONA, Government is taking decisive action to address this challenge.
We are cracking down on violations of immigration laws.
We are increasing our inspections of workplaces and prosecuting employers who violate our labour laws.
We are strengthening border security, stamping out corruption in the immigration system and closing the loopholes in fragmented immigration laws.
We must be clear: every person in South Africa – whether they are citizens or foreign nationals – must respect our laws, and the rights of every person in our country must be upheld.
We must never give in to violence, xenophobia or vigilantism.
As a society, we must stand against all forms of disinformation, incitement, racism and ethnic mobilisation.
We will strengthen and enforce our laws, while upholding the Constitution and the human dignity of all. This will enable us to deal with illegal immigration without turning against one another.
Another critical priority we outlined in the State of the Nation Address is to urgently resolve the water crisis affecting many parts of the country.
Drawing on our experience in ending load shedding, we have established the National Water Crisis Committee.
Coordinated from the centre of Government, the committee has begun implementation of the National Water Action Plan to address weaknesses in the management and delivery of water services.
Through the plan, we will pursue both immediate relief and lasting structural reform.
In the short term, national Government will intervene directly in municipalities facing acute water failures using existing constitutional and legislative powers.
Over the medium to long term, the water delivery model will be overhauled.
Municipalities will be required to ring-fence water revenues so that what consumers pay for water is reinvested directly into fixing pipes, reservoirs and pumping stations.
We are also working to overhaul local Government so that it works for the people.
This is vital if we are to improve people’s lives.
The true test of government is not what happens at the Union Buildings or in the Houses of Parliament.
The true test is whether water flows from a tap, whether a streetlight works, whether refuse is collected, whether a road is maintained and whether a community feels safe.
That is why fixing local Government is among the most urgent priorities of this administration.
It is vital to growing our economy and creating jobs.
If the conditions for investment in our cities and towns are unfavourable, if there is a lack of electricity or water or poorly managed infrastructure, investors simply take their business elsewhere.
That is why we continue to prioritise the revitalisation of local Government and to support efforts towards finalising the revised White Paper on Local Government.
As we undertake the far-reaching reforms outlined in the White Paper, The Presidency is using the working group model to support large metros.
This model brings together The Presidency, municipalities, provincial government, business, SOEs, organised labour and representatives from civil society to implement priority interventions to turn municipalities around.
In 2024, we established the Presidential eThekwini Working Group, and in March last year, the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group.
Across all the metros in the country, we have prioritised key reforms to ring-fence revenue in the trading services.
These reforms will enable greater investment in water, energy and waste management infrastructure to meet the growing service delivery demands in our cities.
Another priority from the State of the Nation Address is to tackle youth unemployment and overhaul skills development in the country.
The Presidency is the coordinator of the Presidential Employment Stimulus and the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.
For the current financial year, we will be expanding the National Youth Service under the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention to 100,000 community service youth employment opportunities.
The Presidency also supports the Youth Employment Service initiative led by the private sector, which connects unemployed youth with work experience opportunities.
The on-the-job training and skills development that beneficiaries receive through these programmes improves their labour market prospects and prepares them for opportunities to become entrepreneurs.
We are implementing the commitments I made in SONA to overhaul the skills system.
We are working to transition TVET colleges to offer occupational qualifications with embedded workplace experience, allowing more graduates to transition into employment.
We are also working to rationalise and reform the SETA system to strengthen industry ownership and reorient the Levy-Grant Incentive structure.
Community Education and Training colleges are being strengthened as pathways into livelihoods, micro-enterprise and second-chance education.
We are focusing on outcomes-based funding by reforming the National Skills Fund and scaling-up of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund.
Building a capable, developmental state is both a SONA priority and one of the three strategic priorities outlined in the Medium Term Development Plan.
A strong, capacitated and professional Presidency is the engine room of the capable, ethical and, increasingly digital, developmental state we are striving to build.
We are undertaking a broad range of initiatives to strengthen accountability, promote participatory democracy and deepen intergovernmental coordination.
We are advancing participatory democracy through the Presidential izimbizo.
Through the District Development Model, we are mobilising all spheres of Government and local stakeholders to coordinate planning, budgeting and service delivery implementation in local Government.
The Presidency has a central role in advancing South Africa’s global and continental agenda.
The President and Deputy President continue to participate in outward investment missions and business forums with key trading partners.
This is part of deepening economic diplomacy efforts to attract investment in key sectors such as agriculture, critical minerals and manufacturing value chains.
A central part of this work is the advancement of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which presents unprecedented opportunities for trade, investment and industrialisation across the continent.
We continue to support key initiatives of South Africa’s G20 Presidency. These include the International Panel on Inequality, which is in the process of being formally established.
This year, South Africa will be assuming the chairship of SADC and will focus on advancing stability, cooperation and integration across our region.
We will continue to be involved with diplomatic efforts in support of peace processes in areas such as the Eastern DRC and South Sudan.
We continue to use our membership of the G20, BRICS, the Non-Aligned Movement and other bodies to assert the primacy of international law and the centrality of the United Nations in global affairs.
We remain convinced that the right to sovereignty and self-determination be extended to all people, including the people of Palestine, Western Sahara and Cuba.
The country will soon also be embarking on the next phase of the National Dialogue as we strive to chart a new course for our country.
Between June and August this year, pilot dialogues will be held across the country. These will include ward-based engagements, digital engagements and sectoral dialogues.
I call on all South Africans to come together once more and be part of crafting a new vision for South Africa.
Honourable Members,
The State of the Nation Address sets out the line of march.
The budget process gives effect to Government’s plans and programmes for the year ahead.
We have sought to outline the role of The Presidency in driving the national priorities.
We have sought to demonstrate the value of this strategic coordination, the progress that has been made and how we plan to build on that progress in the year ahead.
The progress we have made to date is not a product of chance.
It is the result of deliberate state action to drive a structural reform agenda across Government and with business, labour and other social partners.
The progress we are witnessing owes much to strategic direction from The Presidency to unlock growth and restore investor confidence.
Even as our economy is recovering, there is much still to be done.
Our people need jobs and the economy needs to grow at a pace that will create them.
Local Government must be fixed with urgency and the state of service delivery must be turned around.
Corruption must be uprooted. Crime must be stamped out.
Government must serve the people and treat them with respect and dignity.
Work must now continue in earnest.
Let us not allow ourselves to be deterred by distractions or political intrigue.
The National Executive, Parliament and our courts are mandated to serve the South African people and give effect to the promise of the Constitution.
This must be our overriding priority.
As I conclude, I express my gratitude to Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and Deputy Ministers, Nonceba Mhlauli and Kenny Morolong.
I also express my gratitude to the Director-General in The Presidency and all the advisers and officials who make this important institution at the heart of Government work.
I hereby commend this Budget Vote of The Presidency to the National Assembly and look forward to the debate.
I thank you.
