EFF EXPECTATIONS FROM MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT
Wednesday, 24 October 2018
The EFF notes and acknowledges that the new Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni is presenting the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement only two weeks into the job.
We hope that the Minister did not just take instruction from Treasury to present what would have been prepared by the former minister.
The EFF expects the minister to present a durable and concrete way to reduce debt to GDP ratio from 60% as the situation is not sustainable. With such a high level of debt to GDP ratio, South Africa is spending more money to service debt on interests, money which could otherwise be allocated to developmental social services.
We expect the Minister to present a plan on how the government is going to maximize non-tax revenue streams and save money by building state capacity to reduce professional consulting, advisory services and tendering for other recurring activities which must be insourced South Africa's economy has dismally failed to create new sustainable jobs and as such, any attempt to retrench public servants will be rejected.
The government must do a thorough assessment to retrain public servants with technical, artisan and service delivery based skills to rearrange government and its functions as a move towards abolishing tenders. With a wave of retrenchments in public sectors as thousands of people continue to lose their jobs, the government has the responsibility to ensure that it does not contribute to the problem of joblessness.
The EFF also expects a clear plan on how South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) will deal decisively with aggressive tax avoidance. The EFF has formally indicated to the Speaker of the National Assembly that we will introduce a private member bill on Anti-Avoidance of Tax, we, therefore, expect the Minister to illustrate coordinating efforts to expedite the enactment of the bill into law.
The EFF has also tabled Banks Amendment Bill, which is before the Standing Committee on Finance, to allow for state-owned entities to apply for a banking license to conduct the business of a bank. We expect the Minister in his policy statement to outline a way forward in terms of the establishment of a state owned bank. We also expect the Minister to touch on concrete plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund as President Matamela Ramaphosa agreed that South Africa must immediately work towards the establishment of sovereign wealth fund.
Lastly, the EFF expects the Minister to bring to an end the reckless fiscal policy of austerity towards social services. Black people, Africans, women and workers in particular face a difficult period ahead. The price of everything i.e. food, housing, transport, school fees, clothing, electricity, petrol, municipal services etc. has increased drastically due to collective mismanagement of the economy by the ANC.
The government must redirect more money towards spending which will improve the lives of our people.
Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 24 October 2018
