GOOD member statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD: Secretary-General and Member of Parliament
09 March 2022
Note to editor: This is the member statement to be made by GOOD Secretary-General and Memebr of Parliament, Brett Herron, during the deliberations on the Fiscal Framework & Revenue Proposals Report in Parliament today. Please check against delivery.
Madam Speaker,
Yesterday StatsSA released the GDP figures for the fourth quarter of 2021.
Growth topped out at 4.9%, falling just below projections, but leaving us about 2% points below where we were in 2020 before the pandemic struck.
The July 2021 violence and insurrection robbed us of achieving over 5% growth and those who instigated it, and those who acted it out, need to be held accountable. We are yet to see consequences and prosecutions.
The select committee’s report laments that domestic savings, especially those that arise out of a reduction in the corporate income tax rate, are not being reinvested into the economy to create jobs.
It is important to remember that the environment conducive to private sector investment in our country, economy and jobs is a stable one.
Where law and order is maintained and where there are consequences for the kind of destruction we witnessed last year.
The alarm bells, in the GDP results, are the sectors which have not recovered – especially those that are labour intensive.
The report before us is consistent about inclusive and job-creating growth being our most pressing priority.
But there is something going horribly wrong for the construction sector.
The construction sector has been in steady decline since 2016. This is alarming for a number of reasons:
A construction sector in decline means public housing is not being built, the private developer of residential or commercial buildings is not investing, and infrastructure is not being built;
A construction sector in decline means a labour intensive sector is losing the jobs we need – low skilled, semi-skilled and skilled;
A construction sector in decline is a force multiplier of decline. For every job on the construction site – 7 jobs are created in the supply chain.
The public sector’s commitment to investment in infrastructure and to infrastructure-led growth is critical to preventing the total collapse, or exit, of this sector – before we find that our infrastructure and developments can only be built by foreign players.
We agree with the standing committee that the projected economic growth of 1.8% over the medium term is not sufficient and we encourage our government not to settle for this.
We need at least 3% growth to have an economy that is creating enough jobs to start to see an impact in our unemployment numbers.
Finally, we support the report’s call on National Treasury to plan for an implement a Basic Income Guarantee or Grant (BIG).
This morning I read an article on basic income. It made a number of points about the positive impacts of basic income where its been implemented or piloted in other parts of the world – in reducing poverty, improving child mortality rates, and growing the economy.
I will leave you with this comment from the article:
Humans are the only species on Earth who have to pay to live here.
Basic Income is the recognition that if we’re going to make everyone pay to live, we should provide everyone the money to live.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (whatsapp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za