Momentum recently hosted a post Budget breakfast in Cape Town, two days after the finance minister Mr Enoch Godongwana presented his 2026 Budget (Wednesday 25 Feb 2026).

Johan Minnie, Consult by Momentum CEO summed up the quality of engagement and the seriousness of the information presented.  In a post Budget environment, where trade-offs are explicit and resources are constrained, it is both necessary and responsible to step back and consider the longer-term drivers of fiscal sustainability. The Budget sets out government’s immediate priorities. But it also reminds us that the sustainability of the fiscus is shaped well beyond a single fiscal year. It is shaped in households, in labour markets, within corporate SA.

The research we have reflected on today makes an important contribution in this regard. It highlights that household financial vulnerability is not simply a social issue. It is a systemic one, with clear implications for public spending, public services, and the stability of the revenue base over time.

From the perspective of Momentum and its group of companies, this framing matters deeply. Our purpose is rooted in helping people build financial security and resilience over the long term. When households are financially resilient, the broader economic system functions more effectively. When they are not, pressure accumulates elsewhere, often with fiscal consequences.

One of the most valuable insights from the research is the treatment of financial advice. It is not positioned as a product, channel, or a short-term intervention, but as ongoing journey, whereby the adviser acts as a guide and coach, to enable decisions that empowers households to apply financial knowledge consistently in real world conditions. That distinction between product and advice is important. Many South Africans understand what sound financial behaviour looks like. What they face is complexity, volatility, and limited margin for error. In that environment, advice reduces cognitive burden or simply put, the worry of money matters, supports discipline and enables better long-term choices. Over time, this builds financial capability.

The fiscal relevance of this capability is indirect but material. More resilient households are better able to manage shocks without resorting to emergency support. They are more likely to remain economically active and to contribute sustainably to the tax base. They place less pressure on public services linked to financial distress. These effects do not appear neatly in a single Budget line item, but they accumulate across the system. For government, this reinforces the value of viewing financial capability as preventative. o It aligns with broader policy objectives related to economic participation, inclusion, and long-term sustainability, without transferring responsibility away from the state.

For Momentum, and for our industry peers, this signals clear accountability. Trust, transparency, and client centricity are not optional. They are essential if financial advice is to deliver its intended outcomes. Perceptions of advice as product driven undermine both its reach and its effectiveness. Addressing this is fundamental to the credibility of our industry. As a business operating under regulatory scrutiny, shareholder expectations, and public accountability, we carry a responsibility to demonstrate that the value we create, extends beyond financial performance alone, and that it contributes to the resilience of the system in which we operate.

The Momentum Post Budget breakfast reinforced that long term fiscal sustainability is not achieved through policy instruments in isolation. It is supported by millions of household decisions made over time. The extent to which those decisions are informed, supported, and become resilient, matters to all of us.

A sustainable public balance sheet is supported by a financially resilient and sound society. Building that resilience requires alignment across policy, industry, and households themselves. Financial advice delivered responsibly but more importantly, at scale, has a meaningful role to play in making that a reality.