Now we have the power
It’s not often I find myself agreeing with Julius Malema, but there I was, nodding away as I listened to his comments on the budget
It may have been the matter-of-fact tone, it may have been the red overalls, but there was little doubt in the parliamentary precinct’s post-budget chatter that EFF leader Julius Malema was making more sense than any of the other “talking heads”. He went right to the essence of finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s speech.
“It’s a well-balanced budget; he tried to speak for all the different constituencies; that’s what leadership is about.”
Keen not to waste an opportunity to have a dig at his archenemy, Malema then alluded to President Jacob Zuma’s axing of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene and, after a brief but terrifying hiatus, the dramatic appointment of Gordhan, describing his return as “like a messiah, come to rescue the country”.
It might, of course, be that by Wednesday Malema was well aware of the fierce battle that was raging just out of sight of the media. On the one side Gordhan and the forces of light; on the other Zuma, disguised as SA Revenue Service chief Tom Moyane, and the forces of darkness. Malema’s support of Gordhan might have been intended as a message to Zuma.
Apart from Malema, most of the post-budget comment was about whether or not Gordhan had done enough for SA to avoid a ratings downgrade to junk status. This is perhaps understandable as, in the investment community, there’s been talk of little else since December 9.
Fortunately, for those of us who tire of this obsession with one measurement of how we’re doing, the minister didn’t once mention ratings agencies. Instead he dealt with almost every section of SA society, addressing how they might be affected by the budget and (for those who paid attention) how they might affect the budget.
Gordhan knows all too well that ratings agencies would not have been conned by increases in Vat or widespread cuts to social spending or even a muchneeded slashing of the government wage bill. (How could anyone have seriously thought a Vat increase was on the cards?) Moves of this nature would have prodded his opponents into violent action and would have secured junk status for the indefinite future.
Instead Gordhan delivered what Corruption Watch chief David Lewis rightly describes as “the most inspiring government policy statement in many a year”.
It was nation-building at its best. Instead of dwelling too long on corruption and ineptitude, he reminded us all of the opportunities we have to address these problems ourselves.
In addition to the minister’s re-affirmation of the role of chief procurement officer, Lewis was particularly encouraged by the planned launch of a data portal, “to provide all stakeholders with comparable, verified information on municipal financial and nonfinancial performance”. And then Gordhan’s killer line: “I hope this will further stimulate citizen involvement in local governance.” As Lewis notes, Gordhan is putting it to all of us to do our part to ensure government delivers the services it promises. With this power we can no longer just sit back and complain about government cronyism and ineptitude.
The nation-building theme was also evident in his solution to the woeful ineptitude of stateowned enterprises. Privatisation was never mooted. Instead we heard of the possibility of securing investment from the private sector and from trade union investment funds.
Indeed, it did seem, whenever mention was made of private sector investment, that Gordhan made sure we all knew that included employee and trade union-related money. This should remind every employee and trade unionist they have as much of a role in sorting out SA as the often-demonised “big business”. Not only do we have a role, we have a responsibility.
Ignoring this nation-building role will result in us forever relying on the arrival of a messiah, a pathetic option that will become increasingly unlikely.