Gordhan needs a deft touch
FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan will deliver what many believe will be the most difficult medium term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in almost 20 years in Parliament today.
With the needs of the country having multiplied, Gordhan will have to show the deftest of hands at balancing the needs of a range of interest groups, for he will be only too aware that the patience of those wanting, and those wanting even more, is wearing thin.
He would have had to put his own legal problems behind him, for the time being at least, in order to concentrate his efforts in spelling out to South Africans what needs to be done to push the country on a different, less difficult route.
In drawing up his mini-budget, Gordhan would have been mindful of a number of difficult challenges facing the government and the country. Ongoing student protests under a “no fees” banner; an unstable rand; an economy that is struggling to grow at even 1 percent; and a youth unemployment rate that many are describing as a “ticking time bomb” would have weighed heavily on his train of thought.
The consensus is he will present a mini-budget that will call on the various departments, as well as the various state-owned enterprises, to “cut their coats according to their cloth”. He would not have had much of a choice. We believe it is time for enterprises such as South African Airways and the South African Broadcasting Corporation to be given a dose of bitter medicine in the form of no more bailouts.
Indeed, anything the country cannot afford should be put on the back-burner.
And that brings us to the issue of #FeesMustFall...
We hope Gordhan, in looking at this issue, will be creative. Something must be done from the government’s side to help resolve the crisis at our universities. While no fees for university education might not be an immediate possibility, surely free education for the very poor should not be beyond the bounds of possibility.
But first things first: Gordhan’s immediate task will be to help South Africa avert a ratings downgrade. Retired Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs described him as one of the great builders of South Africa and of the constitution.
We are holding thumbs that he will demonstrate these qualities today.