A potato farmer in Senwabarwana, Limpopo, says rising fuel prices are increasing input costs and putting pressure on farming operations.

Vincent Rapeta hopes Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s mid-term budget speech will include measures to support farmers, particularly emerging farmers.

Godongwana will deliver the National Treasury’s MTBPS on Wednesday, 21 October.

The Senwabarwana area is home to some of the country’s largest potato farms.

Rapeta says rising fuel costs have made it difficult to predict expenses and sustain daily farming operations.

“It fluctuates almost every time. So, normally, when we prepare around 10 hectares, we know we’re spending around R30 000. But when the price keeps going up, you find it difficult. You don’t even know how much you’re going to spend. But the reality is that we feel it in our pockets, and we are struggling. I wish the Minister could focus on us as emerging farmers. How best can he rescue us from this kind of situation?”

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MTBPS

As the term indicates, it’s the Treasury outlining its policy approach to government finances over the next three years, with a focus on revenue and expenditure performance in the current 2026 / 27 financial year.

Economists indicate that Treasury reports so far have shown higher-than-expected tax revenues coming into the fiscus, putting National Treasury on a better footing. But with major economic stress in terms of higher inflation and now higher interest rates, what can we expect National Treasury to say and do?

Economists say National Treasury has been reporting healthy tax revenues coming in from multiple sources for the past six months, ranging from personal income tax, value-added tax and, importantly, company tax due, in large part, to some buoyant commodity prices.

They expect the Finance Minister to continue the mantra of fiscal consolidation, which includes debt stabilisation. And there’s an expectation that he may announce a so-called fiscal anchor. -Additional reporting by Nompumelelo Siziba