DA welcomes calls for Minister Mboweni to account to Parliament for years of Stats SA negligence

19 February 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the resolution of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration’s call today that the Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, appear before Parliament to account for the growing lack of funding at Statistics SA. 

In today’s portfolio committee meeting, the entity once again revealed that budgetary constraints are increasingly hampering its ability to fulfill its obligations optimally.

The revelations in Parliament also supports reports today that Stats SA is indeed knee-deep in a debilitating funding crisis.

Stats SA is a crucial entity tasked with providing periodic accurate statistics to inform the public, government and private sector of key developments in the economy and society. 

Given the important work that Stats SA does, it raises serious questions about the motives behind the ANC government's persistent failure to allocate the funds it needs to do its work.

The ANC cares more about pumping public funds into dead SOEs for looting, instead of supporting entities that actually work. 

Nothing illustrates the dire disturbing at Stats SA than the fact that since October 2016, the entity has neither hired new staff nor promoted any existing ones. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Statistics Council has threatened to resign if government does not immediately increase funding for Stats SA. 

The DA has for years called for increased funding for Stats SA to allow it to function optimally and we will continue to do so in the future. Stats SA is too crucial to fail.

Issued bySolly Malatsi,DA Shadow Minister in the Presidency, 19 February 2020