The Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni has laid out for us a budget speech which most of us expected to be tough and paint a true state of the nation. We mostly expected him to lay down the hammer on fruitless and wasteful expenditure, to curb unnecessary spending by our highly esteemed politicians.
Reports released in November 2018 indicate that 1 of 3 cigarettes sold in South Africa is illegal. The cost of illegal cigarettes is about R50-60 per carton while legal cigarettes are sold locally in South Africa for R250 per carton. Consumption of illegal tobacco keeps increasing due to the higher selling price of legal cigarettes.
As global warming is increasing rapidly, the world has turned to renewable energy to try and decrease our carbon use and harmful gasses. Global warming might not have been the only reason for South Africa to consider renewable energy- as this topic comes to light with the current Eskom crisis.