Overview
- Government will implement R6.7 billion in medium-term savings by closing or scaling down low-priority and underperforming programmes under the TARS initiative.
- More than half of the targeted savings is tied to eliminating double‑dipping and fraud in the social grants system.
- Data-driven payroll reviews have flagged 8,854 suspected cases of multiple payments, inactive employees or bank account anomalies for verification.
- An early‑retirement window opened on 15 October with R5.5 billion to support up to 15,000 exits, projected to yield average savings of about R3.5 billion per year over time.
- The public transport network grant will be scaled down after missing objectives, while 60% of non‑interest spending remains dedicated to the social wage, including a Covid‑19 grant extended to March 2027.