Budget chief quits Treasury
THE National Treasury yesterday confirmed the resignation of the head of its budget office, deputy director-general Michael Sachs, and responded to reports of a continued power struggle with the Presidency by saying it would retain control of budgetary processes.
“The Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, is saddened by Mr Sach’s resignation but has thanked him for his excellent service, and strong commitment to the national Budget as well as the department over the years,” the department said.
According to the Treasury, Sachs was leaving to serve the government in another capacity.
But reports said he was leaving in protest at interference by the Presidency in the Budget process, notably around the issue of funding free tertiary education.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend, that Sachs threatened to quit if President Jacob Zuma were to drive through a plan to divert R40 billion from existing budget allocations to fully subsidise tertiary education for families with a combined annual income of less than R350 000.
The paper said Zuma intended on making an announcement on free higher education in his State-of-the-Nation address in February, but was blocked by National Treasury.
At the time, Pravin Gordhan was still finance minister.
In his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement last month, Gigaba made no mention of scrapping tertiary education fees, saying instead that “the Budget already makes an enormous contribution”.
Ahead of the minister’s midterm statement, the opposition said it appeared the Presidency was wresting control of Budget decisions from the finance ministry.
The perception was created in part by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe being given the responsibility of drafting a “mandate paper”, meant to guide the Treasury on spending priorities.
Without commenting directly on speculation of a standoff with the president’s office, Gigaba said he would seek to protect the integrity of the Budget system.
Integrity
“Both the director-general and I are aware of protecting the integrity and transparency of the Budget system and process, and ensure that all tax and expenditure decision processes continue to be run by the Treasury and minister of finance,” he said.
Zuma has released the findings of the Heher Commission, which investigated introducing free tertiary education. It found government could not afford to do away with university fees, but it was possible at training colleges. The commission also recommended the government increase spending on higher education and training to 1% of GDP. – African News Agency