Lula, a small‑ and medium‑enterprise (SME) funding platform, is urging the government to introduce tax reforms to unlock growth in South Africa’s SME sector ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s National Budget Speech on Wednesday, 25 February. Among its key proposals is raising the compulsory VAT‑registration threshold from about $62 000 to $188, 000 to improve liquidity for smaller businesses.

Garth Rossiter, Lula’s Chief Risk Officer, says the move would not only enable SMEs to scale but would also boost the broader economy through higher corporate‑tax revenues, increased profitability and job creation. Thami Ngubeni spoke to Garth Rossiter, Chief Risk Officer at Lula.