The
comments came ahead of his Budget speech, in which he cut the country's growth
forecast for 2016 to 0.9%, down from 1.7%.
He conceded the economy
was struggling with shrinking growth, 25% unemployment, and widespread poverty.
The South African
currency, the rand, which has halved over the past five years, fell after the
speech.
It dropped 2.25% to make
one rand worth around $0.0639.
In a briefing ahead of the
Budget, Mr Gordhan said: "There is no doubt about the fact that we are in
crisis."
The measures
announced in Parliament were aimed at stopping the country falling into
recession and to appease the rating agencies who have threatened to downgrade
South Africa to junk status, which would raise borrowing costs for the country.
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