Hill-Lewis to Godongwana: Don’t hit City pockets

Cape Town – Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has urged Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to avoid cutting municipal funding when presenting the national budget.

Hill-Lewis warned that reducing transfers to local government could shift financial pressure to residents and weaken service delivery.

“There is ample scope to cut waste and inefficiency within the national government without pushing the burden down to cities and provinces. While difficult decisions may be needed to balance the budget, this must not come at the expense of funding used by local government to improve basic services and infrastructure,” Hill-Lewis said, according to IOL.

Godongwana is set to present the budget at 14h00 on Wednesday at the Nieuwmeester Dome in Cape Town under the Parliament of South Africa.

The budget speech comes after the State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa, which highlighted government policy priorities for 2026.

Hill-Lewis called for Cape Town to receive a fair share of the national fiscus, arguing that funding should reflect population growth in Cape Town, which is projected to surpass five million residents.

Meanwhile, according to EWN, tax experts at auditing firm Deloitte do not expect an increase in value-added tax (VAT) in the 2026 budget.

Analysts believe government will avoid a VAT hike following public and political resistance to previous proposals. Instead, Treasury is expected to focus on improving revenue collection efficiency through the South African Revenue Service, including compliance strengthening and ongoing VAT modernisation initiatives launched in 2023.

Experts also suggest that any tax adjustments may be limited to inflation-linked changes rather than major increases, with revenue growth more likely to come from improved collection systems rather than higher tax rates.