MTBPS 2026 in a minute

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana bit the bullet and announced much-needed temporary fuel relief measures for South Africans and business when tabling the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Cape Town on Wednesday.

The fuel levy will be reduced by R3 per litre for diesel and R1.50 per litre for petrol from 4 November, the day of local government elections, up until 1 December 2026.

Read: Godongwana slashes fuel levies SA set to tighten budget rules to restrain spending

The MTBPS – often referred to as the mini budget – is the government’s mid-year update on the country’s spending plans, tax revenue expectations and debt outlook over the next three-years.

Treasury also released a bill for public comment on a fiscal anchor, a financial rule that guides the government on how much it can spend and how much debt it can take on, for public comment.

The MTBPS also noted the government has collected more tax revenue than predicted in the main February 2026 budget – with the R2.1 trillion tax revenue up by R17.1 billion driven primarily by increased corporate tax from the mining sector on the back of high commodity prices.

Listen/read: Unanimous GNU agreement on fiscal anchor for SA Government flags 4 323 suspected ghost workers on state payroll What the MTBPS means for growth, jobs and the rand

At this point, SAA’s most reliable route isn’t Joburg to Cape Town, it’s Treasury to SAA