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This is the total claim which the government, state owned enterprises and other government or quasi-government entities like municipalities has on the capital markets. The government has a number of sources of revenue, mainly tax revenue, but also revenue from customs duties and other sources. In most countries, this revenue fall short of government's total expenditure and the difference is made up by borrowing on the capital markets. Most of the public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR) is a function of the budget deficit, but some of its comes from borrowing by other entities. For example, the borrowings of Eskom are part of the PSBR. Every week the government participates in a bond auction where it sells its debt instruments to the public to meet the PSBR. From May 2020, the Treasury increased the amount which it raised in the weekly auctions to R6,1bn to meet the additional needs caused by COVID-19. The total national debt is about R4,42 trillion (July 2024)  and can be seen at: <a href="https://commodity.com/data/south-africa/debt-clock/">https://commodity.com/data/south-africa/debt-clock/</a>.

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