Government to write off municipal Eskom debt

* On application by municipality, the debt to Eskom up to 31 March 2023 will be written off over a three-year period, in equal annual tranches. This is provided the municipality complies with set conditions.

* Gross debt rises from R4.8 trillion in 2023/24 to R5.2 trillion in the next financial year. By 2025/26, it will exceed the R6 trillion mark. We now expect gross government debt to stabilise at 77 per cent of GDP by 2025/26. This is higher than the level we forecast in February.

* About R34 billion is allocated to extend the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant by another year. Over the medium term, a provisional allocation is retained while a comprehensive review of the entire social grant system is finalised.

* About R372 million has been added to the municipal disaster response grant, while R1.2 billion has been added to the municipal disaster recovery grant, to cover the repair and rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by flooding in February and March 2023.

* Action is being taken to review and reconfigure the structure and size of the state, in line with the President’s commitment in the 2023 State of the Nation Address.