A massive saving in government spending was outlined in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). Delivered this week (Wednesday 12 November 2025) in Cape Town, the National Treasury’s efforts to slash wasteful government spending appear to be bearing fruit.
Known by many as South Africa’s DOGE, the Targeted and Responsible Savings (TARS) initiative boasts R6.7 billion in savings already. Better still, this windfall comes in just the first four months of its existence, reports Daily Investor. So, how did TARS pull it off? Or to phrase it another way: How wasteful was the ANC’s government spending before?
BILLIONS SAVED IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told parliament in the MTBPS that eliminating wasteful and inefficient government spending was a ‘non-negotiable.’ As such, the National Treasury is on track for a wider surplus than initially forecast in the 2025 budget. Moreover, the main measure introduced by TARS is a system the identifies duplication and reorganises existing programmes.
“Government then closes or scales down low-priority and underperforming programmes immediately. More than half of this involved identifying people who are ‘double-dipping’ the social grants system. And TARS is auditing South Africa’s public service to identify ‘ghost staffers’, who are getting paid salaries despite not working for the government,” explained the minister.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT NETWORK FAILURE
Another major government spending failure is the public transport network, said Godongwana. The endowment – once seen as vital for effective public transportation in South Africa – has failed to meet its objective. He intimated that the likes of the Rea Vaya bus system in Gauteng, and others, have ‘failed entirely’ to get off the ground.
Better still, he says the National Treasury’s work under TARS is only just beginning. There are still hundreds of programmes set to face spending review. And if these are not up scratch they, too, will face ‘de-implementation’ in 2026/27. The review matrix on government spending takes into account the following:
- Alignment with legislation and policy.
- Duplication of efforts.
- Performance and delivery of desired outcomes.
- Efficient use of staff, institutional capacity to ensure value for money.
- Budget discipline and external funding.
What do you think? Can TARS continue to save taxpayer money? And how bad was government spending before, that billions were saved in just four months. Be sure to let us know in the comments section below …
