By Therese Grobler,
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has delivered his mid-year report card, also known as the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), announcing a temporary reduction in the fuel levy and revealing that government’s finances have finally stopped deteriorating. However, economic growth is still too slow to make a real difference to most households. But the budget that will do the most to shape your financial future wasn’t tabled in parliament. It’s the one you manage at home.
When the 2026/27 National Budget was tabled in February, it felt uneventful. Proposed tax hikes were withdrawn, tax brackets were adjusted for inflation, and contribution limits for tax-efficient savings went up. At the time, I warned that a calm national budget can breed complacency, and that things had changed, even if it felt as though nothing had.
Eight months later, the picture looks very different. Conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global oil supplies, pushing up fuel prices and adding to the cost of living. In September, the South African Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the second time this year, taking the prime lending rate to 10.75%. Households are having to stretch their incomes further just to keep up.
The MTBPS acknowledged these pressures, offering some relief. From 4 November to 1 December, the fuel levy will be cut by R1.50 a litre for petrol and R3 a litre for diesel, followed by smaller reductions until 5 January 2027. The support is welcome, but it’s temporary and will be gone by January.
There was some good news. For the first time in nearly two decades, government debt has stabilised, at 78.4% of GDP, and the rand has strengthened and become less volatile. But growth has been revised down to 1.2%, from the 1.6% projected in February, and is only expected to reach 1.6% in 2027. As the Minister acknowledged, “growth remains too low”.
“Our task is to turn this stability into faster growth and more jobs,” he said. That matters, because a healthier national balance sheet only makes a difference to households once it translates into better jobs, more secure incomes and lower living costs. Until then, the pressure on household budgets won’t matter.
The message is not to panic, but not to become complacent either. Use the few weeks of fuel relief as breathing room to get your finances in order, not as a reason to relax. Financial security is not determined by the national budget alone but by the decisions people make with the money available to you, the risks you prepare for and the plans you put in place. In an uncertain economic environment, financial planning is less about predicting what comes next and more about being ready for whatever does.
You can’t control interest rates, the oil price, inflation, the rand, or the direction of the markets. You also can’t control what government decides in the next National Budget.
However, you can control how much debt you carry, how much you spend and save, whether you have a financial buffer, and how you respond when markets fall. You can also control whether or not you are making full use of the tax benefits already available to you. Over time, these decisions add up to far than any single economic event. Here’s where to start:
1. Take control of your debt
When interest rates rise, debt becomes more expensive, and it happens immediately. Every increase in the prime rate adds to the cost of home loans, vehicle finance, credit cards, and overdrafts. Don’t assume rates will soon come down again. Prioritise paying off your most expensive debt first, avoid taking on new credit for things you don’t need, and talk to your adviser about whether restructuring your debt makes sense.
2. Build an emergency fund, even if it’s a small one
An emergency fund is what stops a burst geyser, a car repair, or a drop in income from becoming a financial crisis. Without one, people often fall back on credit or dip into long-term savings. The usual guideline is three to six months of essential expenses, but if that feels out of reach, start smaller. Even one month’s buffer, built steadily, changes how you cope with the unexpected.
3. Protect your long-term investments
In uncertain times, it’s tempting to stop contributing to your retirement savings, cash out investments, or make withdrawals under the two-pot system to ease short-term pressure. These decisions can do lasting damage. Every rand withdrawn today loses the decades of compound growth it would have earned. Market volatility is unsettling, but selling during a downturn turns a temporary paper loss into a permanent one. Unless your goals or circumstances have changed, staying the course is usually the right decision.
4. Use the tax benefits you already have
February’s Budget increased the annual tax-free savings limit from R36,000 to R46,000 and raised the cap on tax-deductible retirement fund contributions from R350,000 to R430,000. These increases are easy to overlook, especially when money is tight. But they’re opportunities you control. Tax-free investments and tax-deductible retirement contributions make every rand you save work harder. Over 10 or 20 years the difference compounds meaningfully. Making the most of them is not about earning more. It’s about structuring what you already earn more effectively.
5. Don’t cut protection to save money
When budgets come under pressure, insurance and risk cover are often among the first things to be cancelled. However, these are the safety nets that protect your family and your savings if something goes wrong. Rather than cancelling cover, review it with your adviser to make sure it still fits your needs and that you aren’t paying for more, or less, than you need.
Resilience is built today, not someday
It’s estimated that only around 6% of South Africans can retire comfortably. That’s not because most people don’t want to save but because they’re waiting for better conditions: a pay rise, lower rates, a more favourable national budget. But conditions are never perfect, and the cost of waiting compounds just as surely as the benefit of acting. Financial resilience is not something to postpone until the economy improves. It’s built through the decisions we make in the conditions we have today, especially when those conditions are difficult.
This is where a financial adviser makes a real difference. Not because they can predict the economy, but because they can help you focus on what is within your control, put the headlines into context for your personal circumstances, and help you stick to your plan even when it’s hard. Just because the economy is out of your control doesn’t mean your financial plan should be too.
Therese Grobler, Head: Advice and Wealth Management atMomentum Financial Planning
