Are we alone in wondering if our finance minister, Enoch Godongwana should smile so much as he handles the country’s most important department?

It sends the message that you are so well off as a government employee that you don’t have to watch your rands and cents and that, whether you need a VAT increase or a hike in the fuel levy to raise income, makes little difference to you.

This week, though, South Africans might be wondering, in the light of the final Budget 3.0 delivered by Godongwana on Wednesday, whether they may have won on the VAT roundabout but lost on the fuel levy swings.

In reality, both are not the stuff of light playground antics – they are deadly serious ways of putting even more of a squeeze on consumers who have tightened their financial belts to the point where they can’t breathe.

Budget 3.0: Fuel levy replaced VAT hike but is it the better option?

Godongwana and his planners – and his party, the ANC – were clearly stopped dead in their tracks when opponents fought the proposed 0.5-percentage point increase in VAT.

The money had to be found somewhere – and that is from our fuel tanks.

That could make everything more expensive and, ultimately, may sting more than a VAT hike.