“One can’t help feeling, though, that this budget was more about smoke and mirrors than about offering any real economic solutions.

“On the one hand the government is giving back to lower income households with personal tax breaks, but a hefty rise in the fuel levy will force cost-of-living increases across the board that will negate those benefits and cost everyone more.

The minister also had expressed strong views on the need to cut the country’s massively bloated public wage bill, but at the same time ploughed R12.6bn into the creation of short-term jobs that offer no long-term benefit to the economy.

“In fact, all they do is temporarily skew the official unemployment statistics in the government’s favour, give foreign investors and ratings agencies a false picture of the economic stability of the country and offer no long term benefit to the citizens on the ground who really need sustainable jobs.”

Geffen says the property industry stands with the rest of the private sector in seeking a concrete road map from government that will slash public spending, pay more than lip service to rampant corruption and get the country out of debt.

“We’re servicing a R3.95 trillion debt that will grow to R5.9 trillion within three years, with the interest alone running to hundreds of billions.

“At the end of the day this was a populist budget that looks shiny on the surface, but does not actually put South Africa back on a path to economic recovery. This country and its people deserve better from our leaders.”