South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is in a bind as he reworks the nation’s budget in the face of lower-than-expected tax revenue and pressure from the ruling party to bolster government services ahead of next year’s crunch elections. While a commodity boom previously gave Godongwana some breathing space, recent metal price declines and rail constraints have curtailed the mining industry’s income and contribution to State coffers. The government is likely to collect R52-billion less tax than projected in February, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. They also expect the consolidated budget shortfall to be 5.3% of gross domestic product in the current fiscal year, wider than the National Treasury’s projection of 4%. To balance the books, Godongwana has signaled that he will trim spending and raise borrowing when he delivers his medium-term budget statement in Cape Town on November 1. Any plans to increase taxes will typically be announced in the main budget in February. All those options will encounter fierce opposition from different quarters.