Skills need to be developed – expert

We must be committed to maintaining quality education, says top economist.

An expert has taken up Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s challenge that the private sector and social partners should contribute to the growth of the country’s economy.

Yashin Brijmohan, a dean in business, engineering and technology at the Johannesburg-based Monash University, said the government should prioritise funding to provide skills that would drive economic growth and job creation.

He said Monash South Africa was willing to participate.

“Entrepreneurial, science, technological and business skills for the youth, and opportunities in the fourth industrial revolution are key areas,” he said.

Brijmohan, in an interview with The Citizen, said free tertiary education would have to go with quality, be low cost and spending would have to be responsible.

“It is important that while we have fee-free education, that we must remain committed to maintain quality education and focus on keeping the cost of education as low as possible, and we trust that the funding will be utilised responsibly,” he said.

That the minister reiterated President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address that this would be an era of change and hope, with a strong focus on ethical and decisive leadership, was encouraging, he said.

Brijmohan said responsible fiscal constraint and management was critical to achieving the objectives outlined in the budget. And strict management of fruitless and wasteful expenditure needs to be implemented.

“In addition to this it is important that government address the risks related to a possible increase in aggressive tax planning, tax avoidance and tax evasion due to the incentives created in the budget for taxpayers to reduce their tax costs. This is coupled with a greater need to strengthen tax compliance,” he said.

“We must take on the opportunities provided to us by the fourth Industrial revolution, and must remain committed and focused in preparing our people with the right skills for that,” he said.

He joined the fray to say that Gigaba’s proposal to increase VAT and fuel levy and lack of sufficient adjustment for fiscal drag would hit the poor hardest.