GOOD statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
22 February 2022
In his State of the Nation address, and response to the debate that followed, President Ramaphosa recommitted government to tackling South Africa’s greatest crises: Inequality, stretched to the limit by growing unemployment and radical poverty.
He also recommitted the State he leads to addressing corruption, restoring the integrity of the criminal justice system, and reasserting the primacy of the Constitution.
These are noble intentions with which few reasonable people would disagree. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, which in this instance takes place on Wednesday when Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, delivers the annual budget.
Budgets do not lie. They expose the state’s priorities, and lay down a spending template matched to delivery objectives to which it can be held accountable for the following year.
The truth of the fiscal cliffs on which South Africa’s economy presently roosts is that the country can’t afford to fund a real turnaround strategy without fundamentally changing its approach to budgeting.
Dexterity is required to break away with historic budgetary structures and practises in order to focus on the priorities that confront us today and tomorrow.
Instead of measuring and comparing line items to those of last year, which were based on the year before that, it requires a new set of line items based on efficiency, affordability and the country’s most pressing needs.
This approach, known as zero-based budgeting, was enthusiastically endorsed by former Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni. Ten months ago Treasury released a zero-based budgeting framework report. This week is a good time to begin implementing it.
If Minister Godongwana’s budget provides for funding to address youth unemployment, small business development, electricity transformation, social security for the unemployed and resources for the national prosecuting authority to tackle crime and corruption then we’ll know that the President meant business.
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