Policy Bulletin 02: Reflections on Aspects of Public Finance and Fiscal Policy in South Africa

After the COVID-19 crisis is over, South Africa will face a fiscal mountain that looks insurmountable. Many of the problems experienced in the public finances originated outside of the fiscus and have to be addressed at source, neither fiscal discretion, nor fiscal rules or any fiscal framework, will be effective unless there is collective commitment by the incumbent government. But it can be done. All the political, social and economic policy instruments are involved and have to be harnessed. In this paper, Professor Estian Calitz from the University of Stellenbosch highlights the scale of the problems and indicates the direction in which some solutions may be found.