Remarking on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s Mid-term Budget Policy Statement, Kevin Hustler, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber had the following to say:
“Amid global economic uncertainty, we look to the finance minister to provide the support needed to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the South African economy. We commend the minister on his unequivocal statements against wasteful expenditure, with a focus on strengthening service delivery and the review of systems of procurement.
We commend, too, his confirmation that public investment will gather momentum over the next year to support social delivery and skills development through the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission. The minister’s review highlights significant projects to benefit the Eastern Cape, including a new dam, and the rehabilitation of the main roadway between Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
We would have appreciated greater detail on the infrastructure investments, particularly in the Eastern Cape, and with specific reference to the Nooitgedacht Low Level Scheme and electricity infrastructure in the region – the Metro is able to invest in neither water nor electricity under the current constrained budget.
A modest growth rate of 2.1% in the South African economy this year, predicted to rise to 3.5% by 2016 is a far cry from the threefold growth needed to create sufficient job opportunities. We seek urgent and effective engagement between government and business to improve investor confidence in our dominant and growth sectors, and in the country itself.
The Minister has stated that the mid-term budget policy statement speaks to government’s intent to, among other aims, implement the National Development Plan, direct public spending towards inclusive growth to complement private sector spending, support job creation and skills training and create a climate for investment. Growth and development in South Africa will become a reality only through a focus on fiscal discipline, with an eye to protecting progress already made, which the
minister has acknowledged.
Faith in the institutions of our nation is achievable only through a zero-tolerance approach to corruption at all levels of business and government, and a commitment to the implementation of sustainable plans of action, including tangible signs of remedial and punitive measures.
It is vital that the country takes concrete steps towards creating an enabling environment for business, to enhance our trade and grow the investment so desperately needed to revitalize the socio-economic landscape of South Africa. We therefore commend the minister on the progress alluded to in the improvements in road and rail logistics, including the reduction in container handling charges at the ports. We support, too, the action that has been taken to ensure that competitiveness is not undermined by collusion.
We support National Treasury in its commitment to the close monitoring of and engagement with those municipalities that fail to live up to the standards of public service established in the Constitution. We call on the minister to keep a watchful eye on the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, as well as on the progress of interventions currently undertaken.”
See: MPs welcome cost-cutting measures
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