BY
HON LJ DE KLERK, MPL (IFP)
Honourable Speaker.
I want to thank the Inkatha Freedom Party to allow me to debate on the 2017/2018 unaudited close-out budget performance hearings.
The quote “the more things change the more they stay the same” is a reference to situations where there appears to be a meaningful change, but many underlying fundamentals are still the same.
This reality hits home every year when the Finance Committee participate in the unaudited close-out budget performance hearings. Year in and year out the Committee battles with significant under-expenditure or over-expenditure and other issues. It just never stops and it is soul destroying to battle with the same challenges continually. The Committee held hearings during 10 – 22 August 2018 and questioned 8 Departments and state-owned entities. 12 out of the 15 votes under-spend their budget.
We live in a country where there is huge unemployment as was pointed out by the economist Mike Schussler. The number of unemployed in South Africa had increased from 6 million to 9.6 million between 2001 and 2018. This was a 60% increase in the broader rate of unemployment which had a devastating effect on inequality and poverty in the country.
Schussler further stated that South Africa is one of the few countries in the world where there are more adults not working than adults working. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported that South Africa lost 69,000 jobs between march and June.
South Africa is currently in a technical recession. It is interesting to note the meaning of technically – it means “something technically true is actually really true or correct but it may not be the way people think about it.”
So, the reality and the truth is people in South Africa is poorer, unemployment is growing bigger and inequality is increasing. Everything the ANC Government is preaching that they are fighting to decrease is in fact, increasing.
Only now the truth for all to see is that the ANC Government policies is flawed and because of this failure they are grasping at straws by proffering even more radical policies. This they want to achieve through their communist inspired national democratic revolution. The same radical policies implemented in Venezuela and the same radical policies that destroyed Venezuela, will destroy us.
Because of the unemployment and poverty in our country, the people are increasingly looking at the Government for a solution, but even in this dire circumstance our Provincial Government still underspent their budget by R689 997.00 and the biggest culprits being Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Social Development and Cogta. These are apex Departments to alleviate poverty. So, if they under-spend, it is criminal.
We as the IFP are looking forward to 2019 so that we can implement effective and pro-poor policies to take this Province forward.
I thank you