Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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Today is the day that the South African National Budget speech for 2020 is going to be given. It will be delivered by the Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni. I must say that in having him as Finance Minister we should consider ourselves lucky and I would say that as well with regard to our President, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Of course, having good people in important jobs like this is critical, but there is a limit to what miracles they can perform.
South Africa has a myriad of problems, including a massively high birth rate, which leads to hundreds of thousands of people entering the job market each year and only approximately 35% of school leavers getting a job. We are going to end up with a lot of extremely frustrated youth as the years go by if we do not find ways to get them jobs.
There are all sorts of entities that need financial assistance including the Road Accident Fund, South African Airways and not to mention the good old favourite Eskom and our never-ending power problems that we all had to grow used to and live with. How Finance Minister Mboweni tackles all of this without overly taxing people and chasing away more business is going to be a challenge in itself and today is the day that we are going to hear about those changes. The one area where I would really hit people a lot harder, but they don’t hit hard enough each year, is in the sin taxes – alcohol, cigarettes, etc, - but I also think they need to start creating tax incentives for people who reduce their liability on the electricity network. In other words, if you have installed something friendly like solar power you should be given some tax incentives to do that because if more people do that it will certainly help some of the problems we are dealing with in South Africa.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Wednesday 26-Feb-20
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Dasanya said:
on Monday 23-Mar-20 08:59 AM
The budget speech in South Africa is always a challenge especially because of all the problems we face. I definitely think that a tax incentive would be a good idea and would be a great help.
Ashleigh said:
on Thursday 19-Mar-20 08:02 AM
Sometimes I really do not understand why we even have budget speeches if it isn't being kept to. Lets see if this comes to light.
Claudia B said:
on Friday 13-Mar-20 10:21 AM
The budget speech always sounds so promising, let's hope that this year it will be different and all promises will be kept.
Bronwyn said:
on Tuesday 10-Mar-20 08:53 AM
The budget speech sounds promising this year,it would be interesting to see if they do deliver on there promises but only time will tell
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Friday 06-Mar-20 07:55 AM
Same old promises, just a different year. I'm very surprised that the VAT did not go up this year. The biggest problem SA faces is the increased unemployment rate and the electricity issues placing strain on businesses and the economy.
Chante said:
on Thursday 05-Mar-20 03:21 PM
The speech sounds promising but the execution is usually the problem. It is truly great that the VAT did not go up. I cannot believe so much money is being taken from hard-working people. It will be interesting to the results from this budget speech.
Shanelle said:
on Tuesday 03-Mar-20 12:58 PM
The speeches always sound promising but the implementation is always our problem. I thought that VAT would go up but thankfully it did not. It is daunting that so much money is taken from hard working people who do not see the results. It will be interesting to see what happens these upcoming months.
Henrietta said:
on Tuesday 03-Mar-20 08:45 AM
Let's hope that not many businesses will be chased away. Every year so many companies close the doors and people get retrenched, never mind the amount of youth that need jobs those with jobs suddenly dont a job anymore. It's a vicious cycle.
Thabitha said:
on Tuesday 03-Mar-20 07:29 AM
The power is the biggest problem in South Africa they need to work hard to resolve the situation, unemployed worse. Cyril Ramaphosa is the best but I think it is hard for him to solve some of the problem because of the corruption in government we don't see weather he is coming or going.
Michelle Smillie said:
on Monday 02-Mar-20 04:14 PM
The next few months will be the time of truth. Can the government deliver what they promise? Can the ideas be properly executed to make a real difference? We can only wait and see.
Melandre' said:
on Monday 02-Mar-20 03:09 PM
Year in and year out such great promises are made, immaculate on paper but rather withering in reality. I will give it to the man, he has made an impact, by giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe things do ultimately improve. Our country carries so much potential, I have had the privilege of traveling a lot, and all I can say is there are a lot of examples we can learn from, specifically from Peru and how they implement tax funds. I do believe we are heading in the right direction, we just need adequate implementation and effective management of same. Your idea of tax incentives is rather brilliant, it could actually work really well.
Karien said:
on Monday 02-Mar-20 01:41 PM
I watched the whole South African National Budget Speech, and to tell you the truth it sounds the same every year - promises that sound great, but without proper execution the promises will not be fulfilled, leaving the majority of South Africans unhappy. The unemployment rate in South Africa is daunting and with the high birth rate the future for job seekers does not look bright. The power supply problem is the first that must be attended to. By leaving Eskom to dig its grave even deeper is not the answer. I agree that tax incentives must be created for people who reduce their liability on the electricity network. This will also encourage Eskom clients/consumers to "go green" which will not only benefit the South African economy by ensuring that companies can continue operations without relying on Eskom, but it will also benefit the environment and reduce the carbon footprint of South Africa as a whole.
Tersia said:
on Monday 02-Mar-20 11:04 AM
The best to do is to be and stay positive as it could have been much worse. The sin taxes, I felt could have been adjusted more. All and all people seem to be happy with the Budget speech this year.
Nicolle said:
on Monday 02-Mar-20 09:50 AM
Despite the challenging fiscal and macro-economic climate, the Minister's message was clear: “Our economy has won before, and it will win again.”
Lourien said:
on Monday 02-Mar-20 08:25 AM
I expected the income tax brackets to go up, but we received good news and it will be decreasing, I am however wondering where the extra funds the government needs is going to come from, if it is not our pockets ? Probably more loans that the country cannot afford?
Another problem the country is facing is SAA. How many times will SAA be “bailed out”? This is so much money that could have been used in a different way to improve the country, the government should rather focus on getting the country back on track and then at a later stage focus on SAA. They should sell the airplanes to cover the costs and existing debt and then when the country has the funds they can start up the airline from scratch. Its not worth it trying to save something that is not working or making any profits at this time.
Helen said:
on Friday 28-Feb-20 08:16 PM
Great news from this speach that there is not so many changes in Taxes we will be paying. The income tax will be decreasing for this financial year. But petrol price will be rising again. Let's be positive, hoping this year will be great for all of us!
Zindy said:
on Friday 28-Feb-20 03:47 PM
I did not manage to watch the speech however from what i have heard most people are as satisfied as can be with the results. The incentive idea would be a great thing to implement.
thembi said:
on Friday 28-Feb-20 12:24 PM
I wanted to watch this but I did not have the time to do it. I am happy that no increase in VAT, everything is already expensive
sandra said:
on Friday 28-Feb-20 12:23 PM
I was expecting increased in VAT, it is a relief to hear that is not the case. I am just astounded at the fact that the state does take our hard earned tax and the country is still not performing.
Mathilda Du Preez said:
on Friday 28-Feb-20 08:39 AM
Happy to hear that there will be no VAT increases and tax payers relief regarding personal taxes.
But how ridiculous that State spending exceeded the Budgeted figure by R17bn???
Fuel levies will increase by 25 cents a litre, of which 9 cents will go to the Road Accident Fund but still they always claim they don't have money?
Megan said:
on Friday 28-Feb-20 08:21 AM
There is much to welcome in this budget, no VAT increases and tax payers relief regarding personal taxes. Once again we can only hope the allocated money is used accordingly and properly managed. I wish the best for our country going forward this year.
Joyce said:
on Thursday 27-Feb-20 10:28 AM
Hope for the best to our above mentioned leaders and others, nice news that the speech of the Minister of Finance was not destructed, and that people of South Africa were given a chance to listen peacefully to the speech of the Finance Minister.
Shristi said:
on Thursday 27-Feb-20 09:51 AM
The budget speech was not as bad as thought it would be. There were clearly a lot of good that came out of it for consumers, home owners and businesses. I just wish that the money they allocated to SAA to pay their debt would have been put to better use.
Sarah said:
on Thursday 27-Feb-20 08:04 AM
David has a some good points with Eskom and in general with our government. They should us the money where they say they are going to use it. The birth rate is very high in 1970 it was 20.1 percentage now in 2019 it was 38.5 percentage .
Prishani said:
on Thursday 27-Feb-20 07:58 AM
I think most tax payers are pleased with the result in terms of personal taxes, it seems however that once again our economy is dependent on Eskom playing their part! I was happy to see that some money will be put into educational development and systems.
Ziyanda said:
on Thursday 27-Feb-20 07:55 AM
Tito delivered a budget that is good but the problem always lies in the spending of the allocated funds. I just hope the money will be spent wisely. It was a relief to see the VAT unchanged.
Alexis said:
on Thursday 27-Feb-20 07:47 AM
It does really hurt the community at the fact that this type of finance cannot be put into things that really matter. One will just have to wait and see and hope that changes can be made for the better
fikile said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 04:52 PM
It is always good to see people who know what they are doing finally being given the chance to help the country, but then again you ask your self how long is he going to stay saint? is he going to fall like the other people that fell because of other peoples advises on how to do things. We don't have much but to hope that he will change a lot of things.
Roxanne Rautenbach said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 03:06 PM
There is so much damage done to our beautiful country that it will take a really long time to get us back to the beautiful country we hear our grandparents talk about.
Courtney said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 11:39 AM
Go Solar! Save where you can and I can't wait to hear this speech!
Nicolene said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 09:50 AM
We already have a gas stove/oven and a borehole. We just need to get a gas geyser installed as well as solar panels and need to do the cash power. I personally think it's better to be completely of the grid. Would love to hear this speech. Lets see what's going to happen.
Jessica M said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 09:27 AM
I must say, I am really looking at getting a solar panel installed. This power problems is just too much. Also I wish that grants would get monitored better, I feel some people take advantage of that. But lets see what these people come up with today.
Natasha said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 09:18 AM
Its going to be difficult to make some changes its i not just going to happen over night and with the youth of these days its a nightmare,there is already so many young people that don't have jobs and they throwing their lives away in the street.
Lucretia said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 09:04 AM
I definitely think that the man on the street is going to carry the can for the money that is needed to pick up all our failing SOE's. I look forward to hearing the budget speech because i think it is going to be a very difficult call on TM side. I, for one, would hate to be in his shoes right now.
Bianca Niemann said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 08:51 AM
Repairing the damage would be a difficult task. Let's hope that our Finance Minister and our President have what it takes. The fact that Soweto still owes so much yet still have power is frustrating. The electricity fees are being increased and we then need to compensate for those who decide to not pay, and yet continue to have power.
david said:
on Wednesday 26-Feb-20 07:40 AM
at the moment, everyone who can afford to shed Eskom is doing so. this will leave Eskom producing electricity for the non paying market. this business model is not sustainable. to give incentives to get people off the grid is merely going to hasten Eskom's demise. what Eskom actually needs is for ALL their customers to pay them. selectively enforcing payment in the suburbs and not in the townships is not working. If i do not pay i am simply cut off, and then have to pay penalties to be turned on again. currently Soweto has an R18 billion debt to Eskom. This is after the historical debt was written off in 2003.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
