Minister Tito Mboweni flanked by Deputy Minister Modli Gungubele and Director General Dondi Mogajane arrive in parliament for the Budget 2019 Speech [Photo: GCIS]
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has the unenviable task of delivering some hard truths on Wednesday, as he gives his second Mid-Term Budget speech. The ANC representative will set out the government’s fiscal plans for the immediate future, and some tough decisions have to be made in order to revive South Africa’s ailing economy.
The alternative Mid-Term Budget plan
However, shadow Finance Minister Geordin Hill-Lewis reckons that any cuts or belt-tightening manoeuvres must be nothing short of ruthless. The DA MP has suggested that the ruling party have “dithered” on the issues that really matter, and desperate times call or desperate measures.
“During the past year, the government has shown itself unable to make decisions. The government has been ambitious in commitments to reform, but largely inconsequential in action. As a result, the economy is not growing nearly fast enough to make a dent on poverty and unemployment.”
“We expect growth projections to be revised downwards again. This also means that revenue targets will be missed, as VAT and corporate receipts collapse. There are now 10.2 million South Africans who are looking for work or who have given up looking for work, nearly 600 000 more than at this time last year.”
Geordin Hill-Lewis
So, what are the DA suggesting the ANC should do? Well, wielding the axe is high on their agenda:
Mid-Term Budget – how the DA would ‘save’ R235 billionMake decisive cuts
The DA claim that Tito Mboweni’s number one priority must be “to present a credible plan to prevent a blow-out of the deficit and to stabilise the national debt”. This will require deep spending cuts across the public sector. They believe that a net adjustment of R235.85 billion can be achieved over the next four years.
Slash the public wage bill
More than two-thirds of their plans to save money in South Africa come from going after the bloated wages of our public servants. They believe a three-year freeze on all non-occupation specific dispensation (frontline) wages, and it’s also suggested that 9 200 head office management jobs can be shed.
Mid-Term Budget – stop the SOE bailouts
The opposition are calling on Minister Mboweni to announce that SAA will be placed under business rescue, and that SA Express should be shut down forthwith. They also want to put a stop to the endless cash injections going towards Eskom, which are essentially making citizens pay more for their electricity tariffs.
Where would the DA find alternative sources of cash?Auctioning our “digital spectrum” would allegedly raise R32.5 billionThey believe that selling Telkom shares could raise R14.5 billionSelling Sentech, the DA reason, would raise R1.8 billionThe elimination of the New Development Bank is another idea, said shave R13.25 billion off of SA’s spendingAbandoning the National Health Insurance project has the potential to raise R5.8 billion, according to the alternative Mid-Term Budget tabled by the DA.
