All eyes and hopes on Mboweni mini-budget
South Africans will be looking to new finance minister Tito Mboweni to see how he envisages turning the country’s economy around when he delivers his mini-budget speech on Wednesday.
On October 9 a familiar face rejoined cabinet when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Mboweni as the new finance boss.
Just more than a month earlier, the South African economy officially entered a technical recession after Stats SA announced on September 4 that the country’s real gross domestic product had decreased by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2018.
Mboweni will deliver his maiden medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in parliament and many South Africans are looking to the minister to relieve the strain on their personal finances, strengthen prospects for job creation and bolster the economy as a whole.
Tech innovation group Sea Monster managing director Glenn Gillis said while there is much pressure on the new minister, there needs to be considerable focus on the small business space.
“What are Treasury and government really doing to effectively spur on entrepreneurship, not just in the short term, but over the next 10 to 15 years?
“We hear so much about the fourth industrial revolution but I would like to see concrete plans from major role players, such as the government, on what they’re doing to prepare employers and employees of today and tomorrow for this.”
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Nomkhita Mona said though Mboweni’s MTBPS is not likely to include new priorities, it is the chamber’s hope that some of the funds for Ramaphosa’s stimulus package will be allocated towards industrial development in the metro.
“Nelson Mandela Bay is the infrastructural hub of our province and region.
“It is therefore vital that the maintenance of our road networks and electrical and water infrastructure is well funded in order to promote the ease of doing business efficiently and inexpensively. This, in turn, will contribute to economic growth and job creation.
“The country’s sluggish economic growth is a major challenge, coupled with the recent technical recession, the high unemployment rate and inequality. These are all areas that require solutions from the highest levels of government,” Mona said.
Diversified digital technology solutions provider Etion Limited CEO Teddy Daka said South Africa’s slow economic growth was a major cause for concern for all of its citizens – private and corporate.
“Our state-owned entities urgently need to be stabilised, particularly to reverse the pressure they are placing on public finances.
“Further, we need strategic investment into technology infrastructure which can enable business and the public sector to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively and improve service delivery across the board,” Daka said.
Thebe Tourism Group CEO Jerry Mabena said the industry was poised to deliver muchneeded employment and as such would like to see the MTBPS focus on tangible plans for job creation through agriculture and tourism.