19. Post-COVID-19 in South Africa: The Pandemic and Public Finances toward Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals

Companies both public and private, as well as national and international budgets, were adversely affected by the global economic downturn that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to look at how the COVID-19 crisis affected South Africa’s public spending plan. There was a comprehensive examination of the country’s tax income, job market, output, government spending, and overall debt. According to the content analysis results of this study, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on South Africa’s national finances. For instance, the research found that South Africa’s tax revenue collections were severely impacted, to the point where a revenue shortfall of almost R213.2 billion rand was forecast in the 2021 budget policy statement. Accordingly, this study suggests that the government should promote growth and investment, placing an emphasis on the quality of governance by boosting openness, adopting effective compliance procedures and technology, and opening the economy to citizen engagement. Strategies that can be implemented to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were also discussed in this chapter.