Budget 2024: Godongwana expected to cut buckling consumers some slack

JOHANNESBURG - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is under pressure to cut consumers some slack ahead of his budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday.

This comes as cash-strapped consumers continue to feel the pinch amid a high cost of living.

Lobby group the Automobile Association said it’s worried that drastic increases to the fuel levies could push consumers over the edge.

The general fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund levy combined comprise more than R6 on every litre of petrol and diesel sold in the country.

Increasing the levies ultimately results in higher input costs across various sectors and higher prices at the tills.

Seeff Property Group chairman Samuel Seeff has also called on Godongwana to keep property and personal taxes unchanged.

“On the contrary, we hope that to stimulate this particular market which is important for the economy – he reduces transfer duties. In the past, raising transfer duties has held back people, it’s been an impediment to property transaction, the cost of doing business when selling and buying property is at a level that is too high in terms of taxation.”