IN anticipation of the 2023 budget this afternoon Wednesday afternoon, 22 February, civil rights unions and organisations, financial experts and political parties have described this year’s budget speech as the hardest one any minister of finance has ever had to deliver.
However, expectations have been placed on the shoulder of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
Speaking to Daily Sun, the Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) said they hope that the minister will not use the social budget to fund the current crises caused by the government's bad spending habits.
BJC spokeswoman Phemelo Khass said despite the assurance of access to social-economic rights, they are disturbed by the trend they have witnessed over the years to reduce social spending through the maintenance of an expenditure ceiling and broad fiscal consolidation.
“We are concerned about the current energy crisis, and we welcome the promise to permanently tackle load shedding. We, however, caution that the allocation of funds and reduction in spending to address the R400 billion Eskom debt, must not be implemented to the detriment of other rights found within the Constitution. Rights to education, healthcare, basic services, and social assistance cannot be compromised or deferred,” she said.
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The Tax Justice SA (TJSA) said minister Godongwana must use his Budget statement to properly empower prosecuting authorities so they could combat criminals in illicit trade who are stealing R100 billion a year from the South African people.
TJSA founder Yusuf Abramjee said: “Despite the clear and urgent need to tackle tax evasion and illicit trade, our prosecuting authorities are severely underfunded and understaffed.”
Abramjee said an urgent action is needed to restore the capacity of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and South African Revenue Service (Sars) so they can collect the money that will improve the lives of all South Africans.
Financial expert Andre Roux said people should not lose sight of the fact that the Budget speech is, in essence, a three-year review of projected government expenditure and revenue.
“As such, its primary purpose is not to serve as a blueprint for sustained economic recovery and transformation. By spelling out the intended allocation of the revenue to various government programmes, the Budget speech provides an indication of the government’s priority preferences and objectives,” he said.
ActionSA's Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip said he believes that social grants should be a temporary measure to assist the most vulnerable in society, while long-term economic growth is what creates job opportunities and independence from these grants and that will ignite job creation that will lift most of the people out of poverty.
