South Africa is in the hole for debt of around R4 trillion.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has presented his supplementary Budget, comparing debt to a hippo's mouth.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will unveil his special adjustment budget during a joint sitting of Parliament at 3pm this afternoon.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will be providing details on the R500 billion relief package that the government intends to help businesses and individuals survive at a time when the country is experiencing record levels of unemployment.

At one point, House chairperson Madala Ntombela - who was attending virtually - lost his connection, which left nobody in charge of the proceedings of the house.

About 691 employees have not been paid in full since the end of March. Some of them last week demonstrated outside the Department of Public Enterprise’s offices in Pretoria.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the lockdown had served its purpose of curbing the spread of the virus, saving thousands of lives and that now it’s time to get the economy growing and to learn to live with COVID-19.

The president told Parliament that if the government had not acted decisively, the country could have seen a much higher COVID-19 infection rate and many thousands of deaths.

Speaker Thandi Modise told today’s National Assembly programming committee meeting that she’d received a request for an urgent debate on gender-based violence and it had been agreed that a date for this should be found.

SA Express is in provisional liquidation after an attempted business rescue failed.

The regional carrier was put into business rescue in February after a creditor launched an urgent court application for its liquidation. The liquidators came into office on 13 May.

The Appropriations Bill has to be passed by Parliament before Mboweni can table a Special Adjustments Budget to deal with the financial demands posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The action took place as a cold front swept over the peninsula and sparked violent clashes with police on Thursday.

The party has written to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise requesting the debate be held as a matter of national importance.

The FFC’s Dr Mkhukuli Ncube said the country was in uncharted territory in terms of projections for its economic recovery.

Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s seven-year term expires at the end of November and is non-renewable.

Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Phumulo Masualle told lawmakers that the liquidators had applied for a three-month extension, sparking outrage in the committee.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to deal with it means that the Budget that Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tabled in February has to be substantially revised.