Budget speech: ‘Finance Minister, don’t forget the poor’

Dear Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, We live in a country that is trapped by poverty, unemployment and brutal inequalities.

These challenges are so rife that they push some who are poor, unemployed and disadvantaged to resort to nothing but the life of crime.

The situation is dire and our people have lost all hope. The prices of everything seem to be on the rise and consumers are choking from these economic pressures.

‘Food is now a luxury’

Inflation is currently anti-poor. Food is no longer a basic need but a luxury to many who can’t afford to feed themselves.

The cost of living is unbearable due to an economy that is not growing at the pace that is required if it were to cushion the people from its devastating impact.

As you will be presenting the budget for the 2023-24 financial year tomorrow, it is my humble plea that you don’t forget the poor, the middle class and the working class that are the backbone of this country and are at the centre of its economy.

Alleviate economic hardship

It is important that you centre the budget around alleviating their plight of economic hardships that are fuelled by global politics of the Russia-Ukraine war and the post Covid recovery trajectory.

Therefore, in your budget it is important that you don’t increase taxes. This will be a huge relief to many in these challenging times.

But as you do that minister, you shouldn’t forget the ultimatum of the trade unions representing public servants who vowed to embark on a national strike for failure to grant them a wage increase.

The honourable thing to do will be to cede their demands or meet them halfway, for if the public servants end up striking, government will be on its knees and services to the people will be suspended.

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Increase grants

With almost half of the country’s population beneficiaries of social grants, it is advisable that you increase the amounts they receive so they can be shielded from inflation. In addition to that, we hope that you will announce the introduction of the basic income grant (BIG) that will assist a lot of families.

But even if that is the case, don’t get too comfortable with distributing grants without plans to eradicate unemployment.

You need to take a certain portion from the budget to assist small and medium enterprises and invest in township economies by funding women, youth and those living with disabilities to be job creators.

With load shedding further crippling our economy and investors being sceptical about investing in a country that is facing an energy crisis, you must urgently set aside money to address challenges affecting Eskom.

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SOEs funding must be prioritised

Furthermore, funding to other state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must be prioritised. If these SOEs are helped to be profitable, they will offer efficient services to the people, skills will be transferred to the people, jobs will be created and these profitable SOEs will contribute to the fiscus.

And without forgetting your tough responsibility to attract investments, you must also use the budget to invest in the country’s infrastructure.

For no country can attract capital and grow without proper infrastructure that is needed to build industries.

This will go a long way towards addressing the country’s debt that has reached excessive figures amounting to trillions of rands.

The country should not be at the mercy of the Western lenders who are not interested in the development of our country.

Cut down on loans

Stop borrowing too much from the wrong people and service the debt before we suffocate. It is also crucial that you channel a lot of money into healthcare and education that is relevant to the needs of South Africa.

This will ensure a healthy society that is educated and skilled to perform in an economy that needs their participation in order to thrive.

As an ongoing process, this will reduce crime drastically. But as for now, please fund the police service more – so that crime that is a hindrance to our country’s progress can be effectively addressed. Let this budget represent fiscal stability, economic growth, a healthy, an educated, a safe, independent and equal South Africa on the way.

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– Mthembu is News24’s Young Mandela 2022 winner in the leadership category