South Africa's rising debt bad for health

The biggest chunk of South Africa’s 2025/26 budget is going towards servicing debt — no surprise there; it’s been that way since the 2022/23 budget.

As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana noted in his budget speech, 22 cents of every rand raised in revenue is spent on debt repayments. ‘It is more than what we spend on health, the police, and basic education,’ he said.

Back in 2017, health received the second-biggest share of the national budget. Now, it’s slipped to fourth place. This year, health received a 7.8% increase on last year’s allocation — slightly more than basic education (7.6%).