The continent has the labour, the resources, the growing consumer markets, and increasingly, the policy intent to industrialise. And yet the gap persists.

South Africa’s newly tightened inflation band promises stability but brings unintended pressure. While lower inflation and rate cuts may anchor expectations, they risk squeezing municipalities and businesses, slowing growth unless financial systems strengthen and local economies adapt to rising costs and restricted price adjustments.

If South Africa is to break its entrenched low-growth economic cycle, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana needs to set a bold new course for the country when he delivers the national budget in February 2026.

South Africa’s municipalities are caught in a cycle of service delivery protests, audit failures and declining public trust. Yet, a tool designed to help break this cycle is often sidelined as a compliance burden. That tool is the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA).