Historically the South African Government debt has steadily increased from January 2016 (US$40 265 Million), peaking at US$81 061 Million by January 2018. Government Debt for 2018 has now decreased from US$70 549 Million in the second quarter of 2018, to US$67 998 Million (third quarter) (Trading Economics, 2019). Household debt grew by 4.6% on average in 2018 and amounts to R165 billion (SARB, 2019).

References:

SARB. (2019). Quarterly bulletin: March 2019 (no.291). Available from: https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/publications/publication-detail-pages/quarterly-bulletins/quarterly-bulletin-publications/2019/9148

Trading Economics. (2019). South Africa Government Debt to GDP. Trading Economics, 1–8. Available from: https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/government-debt