President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday tabled the Presidency’s 2025-26 Budget Vote before the National Assembly, framing the Government of National Unity’s programme around three priorities: driving inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and the cost of living, and building a capable, ethical state. Ramaphosa said the government would channel more than R1 trillion into roads, ports, energy and water systems over the next three years, calling infrastructure the “fly-wheel” of economic expansion. Progress in the electricity sector has already cut the frequency of load-shedding, he said, while international partners have pledged $12.8 billion (about R230 billion) for South Africa’s just energy transition projects. The president described youth unemployment as the country’s greatest challenge, noting that 3.8 million of the 10.3 million South Africans aged 15-24 are neither working nor studying. He pointed to programmes such as the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the Basic Education Employment Initiative and the SAYouth digital platform, which has registered 4.7 million young people and linked them to 1.67 million earning opportunities. On foreign policy, Ramaphosa said Pretoria would continue to strengthen ties with Washington even as South African exports face tariffs of up to 30 percent from 1 August, and would use its G20 presidency to push for action on debt sustainability, critical minerals and climate finance. He also highlighted tourism’s rebound, citing more than nine million international arrivals that injected over R90 billion into the economy last year. The budget was immediately criticised in the parliamentary debate, with the MK Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters rejecting the allocation and accusing the administration of failing to curb poverty, crime and corruption. Ramaphosa urged lawmakers to back the spending plan, saying the Presidency would steer the state toward “a better life for all South Africans.”