A clear plan and tangible action on some of SA’s most pressing problems must be priorities in finance minister’s delayed maiden Medium Term Budget Policy Statement
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana will deliver his delayed maiden Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Thursday at a time when the country’s cities and towns are installing political leadership after the local government elections. In addition, the nation will be anxious about a possible fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and any further adjusted lockdown restrictions. What is needed is a clear plan and tangible action on some of the most pressing problems facing the country.
he growth reset or replay
Structural reform is arguably one of the biggest issues we face as a country. Government will need to demonstrate how it will implement a dramatic reform agenda in SA. The ongoing challenge involving the Independent Communications Authority of SA and telecommunications companies’ over-allocation of spectrum — as well as the delayed auctioning of the wider spectrum — is the latest example of how reforms are stalled by policy inertia.
SA has suffered a setback from not carrying out the bold reforms that the state-owned sector of our economy so desperately requires. This is not a cyclical crisis, but a structural one that has been worsened by stagnant growth. Three policy interventions are required:
