Can Godongwana rise to the challenge like his namesake?

EVERYONE knows of Shaka Zulu, the king and founder of the Zulu empire. But an equally compelling yet less known story is that of Godongwana.

He was the first-born son of Jobe, leader of the Mthethwa clan. His father favoured another son, Mawewe as his heir and ordered Godongwana’s death.

However, the young man managed to escape and changed his name to Dingiswayo which loosely translated into English means, one who wanders.

After years of exile, Dingiswayo returned home following the death of his father. He killed his brother, claimed the throne and went on to become a great leader.

He was a mentor to Shaka and it is debatable whether or not Shaka would have become the great warrior that he was had it not been for Dingiswayo.

King Dingiswayo was not just a great military strategist. He created employment for his people through trade and agriculture.

Today one of our leaders carries the name Godongwana – our finance minister, Enoch Godongwana who was appointed about two years ago. Like the great king of yesteryear, he also has challenges to overcome.

In February this year, Godongwana presented the state of our country’s finances and it was not a pretty picture.

Put simply, as a country we spend a lot more money than we earn in taxes. And, as a result, we have had to borrow money. We’ve already borrowed more than R5trillion and in the coming months that figure will grow to R6 trillion.

Anyone who has borrowed money knows you don’t just have to pay it back – you have to pay it back with interest. As things stand, we are paying back close to R1 billion a day for money we have borrowed.

Until now we have collected sufficient money by way of taxes to fund the repayments. But, with so much wrong in our country, tax revenues have fallen.

Companies have higher overheads and are not making the profits they once did. As a result, they are paying less taxes. People are losing jobs so there are fewer individuals paying tax and generally VAT revenue has fallen because companies and people are buying less.

South Africa now faces the very real possibility that we may have to borrow money to fund the interest on money we have already borrowed.

We will know exactly how serious the situation is on November 1 when Godongwana presents a snapshot of our finances.

For now, it seems Godongwana and the team at National Treasury are doing what all good accountants will do in such a situation – they’re trying to cut expenses.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing but Godongwana needs to do more. He needs to do what he can to persuade those in cabinet to create the environment that will encourage people to invest in our country.

Godongwana who became the great king Dingiswayo will be remembered as a man who ensured his people enjoyed a better life. Enoch Godongwana has some way to go before he can be remembered so fondly. For him, the coming weeks will be telling.