"The Minister of Finance’s annual Budget is another indication of a panicking ANC Government" - Democratic Alliance
By Neo Poho
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has described the 2024 Budget Speech by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana as another indication of a panicking ANC government.
The DA released a statement immediately after Godongwana finished his budget speech on Wednesday evening in Cape Town.
"The DA notes the Minister’s announcement of Government’s support for private-public partnerships to rebuild South Africa’s crumbling infrastructure.
Yet, there is a notable absence of a coherent plan to fast track this initiative and the DA has already made proposals to implement such a model.
The DA further notes there appears to be no further direct bailouts to SOEs and no additional funds are allocated to the doomed NHI.
Government has further adjusted its growth forecast downward to 0.6%, significantly impacting revenue collection and the funds available for service delivery – revenue is R56 billion lower than expected this time last year.
Load-shedding and the crisis in our logistics sector has also impacted revenue generation significantly.
Revenue generated from the mining sector decreased by 39.2% while revenue generated from manufacturing sector decreased by nearly 6%.
The lower-than-expected growth and revenue shortfall has prompted Government to launch its raid on the South African Reserve Bank.
On the face of it, it appears that Government intends to drain the Gold and Foreign Contingency Reserve Account of R150 billion in the first instance and the DA has already indicated that we strongly oppose this desperate bailout measure.
This frantic response to South Africa’s self-inflicted fiscal constraints fundamentally misunderstands the role of central bank reserves in maintaining monetary stability and investor confidence.
Liquidating reserves for short-term gain will increase inflationary pressures, undermine the credibility of monetary policy, and signal fiscal irresponsibility to international markets.
We note the extension of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant to next year.
There is a notable absence of any policy decision or funding solution over the medium term and the DA has proposed evolving the SRD into a job-seekers grant.
This Budget is a confirmation that the ANC only cares for its own survival and not about the plight of battling South African households who are unable to put enough food on their tables.
There was no mention of the so-called food security plan of action, announced last year, to protect consumers from the burden of skyrocketing food prices.
This Budget speech does not offer bold action and fails to address the urgent economic crisis facing South Africa and the DA’s Alternative Budget set out a rescue plan for our economy.
The Minister missed an opportunity to set us on the path to a sustainable economic recovery," the statement read.
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