With South Africa's Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, set to deliver the 2026 Budget Speech, the focus shifts to the real-life implications for families grappling with high costs and stagnant wages. Insights from Debt Rescue's CEO, Neil Roets, highlight the urgent need for government action to alleviate financial pressures on households
Image: Freepik
The stage is set for South Africa's Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, to deliver the 2026 Budget Speech on Wednseday.
While the national budget outlines the bigger picture on the country's finances, behind every line item and deficit figure that Godongwana will address, are real people, families who are stretched to the very limit by high prices, stagnant wages and mounting debt repayments.
This was according to Neil Roets, CEO of Debt Rescue, who said how acutely aware he is of how every decision made will affect household incomes.
Roets said, "At Debt Rescue we are on the frontline of the consumer struggle. Starting with the unemployment crisis, the reality is that growth at around 1.5% is simply not enough to solve the problem. In his State of the Naiton (Sona) address, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted that job creation is being addressed through infrastructure development with Government committing over a trillion rand to infrastructure over the next year."
"Unemployment programs like the Presidential Employment Stimulus have created 2.5 million opportunities for jobs. We understand that, for struggling households even temporary employment can make the difference between making their monthly expenses or falling even further behind in their payments. Nearly 30% of South Africans rely on some or other form of social grant to keep out of food poverty," Roets told Business Report.
He added that while the President stated government’s intention to link social support to employment programmes like the expanded public works programmes, the fact is that people need stable long-term employment to restore their financial dignity, rather than relying on government handouts.
"Hunger and food security should be at the top of the Minister’s priority list, especially when you look at the dire situation families find themselves in. Food remains one of the biggest financial stresses people face every month. If you look at an average food basket now costing around R5400 and a minimum wage coming in at around R4900, families simply don’t have enough to cover food, transport and all the other essentials that they really can’t do without, yet they are being forced to choose between putting enough food on the table or keeping the lights on," Roets said.
The Debt Rescue CEO further said that while some relief would come through from lower interest rates over time, families are under such enormous pressure right now it won’t save them from bottoming out.
"South Africa continues to spend more than it earns, with government borrowing to close the gap. When such a large proportion of government revenue goes to servicing debt it reduces the amount of funding that should go to social services, and that is bad for the man on the street," Roets said.
"The impact of this reflects in the struggles of people who approach Debt Rescue daily for debt relief, with consumers increasingly relying on credit to make ends meet. I believe that government should consider more aggressive support strategies for consumers facing financial distress or we are looking at a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off," Roets said.
"While markets may be looking for fiscal discipline and debt-to-GDP ratios, consumers are simply desperately looking for breathing room. The Budget should recognise that recovery starts with households, because when families are financially stable, the broader economy follows. Our wish for this Budget is to bring more than just numbers, it needs to restore hope," Roets said.
Follow Business Report on Facebook, X and on LinkedIn for the latest Business and tech news.