Economic news of the week: will the budget be enough to save Eskom? 

With the national Budget speech for the year firmly in the rear-view mirror, we look back at the tax and energy issues raised by finance minister Tito Mboweni in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Neil Cornelius, MD of the global consulting firm Berkeley Research Group, and Reabetswe Moloi, an attorney from Tax Consulting SA, for this budget review discussion.Moloi starts off the show giving a wrap of the tax matters raised in the budget, such as no increase  in major taxes and selective excise duties. She says the minister probably made the best decision to not increase personal taxes, given how pressured South Africans already are.

Cornelius, who joins us on the line from London, summarises the energy-related parts of the budget, highlighting the uphill funding battle that government faces in trying to clear Eskom’s debts, while ensuring the power utility’s sustainability moving forward. Much of the discussion centres on taxpayer money being use to bail out ailing state-owned enterprises.