Gordhan to deliver budget as reshuffle speculation grows

Attention will be riveted on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who will deliver the 2017-18 national budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, answering the much-speculated upon question as to how the hole in SA’s finances will be funded.

The announcement just ahead of Gordhan’s budget speech that former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe is to become an MP will fuel speculation that a Cabinet reshuffle is in the offing, which could see Gordhan replaced by Molefe, who will be sworn in on Wednesday.

Also high on the agenda will be the state of the provinces’ addresses to be delivered throughout the week by the premiers of Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and North West. These events will mark the opening of their legislatures.

The premiers of the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape delivered their state of the province speeches on Friday.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s address will be the first since the loss by the ANC of two of the province’s largest cities, Johannesburg and Tshwane, in the local government elections. The provincial government suffered a blow in February with the revelations about the deaths of about 100 psychiatric patients.

Another significant event will be the special meeting of the national executive committee of the ANC on Monday to adopt a raft of policies which will be submitted to the party’s national policy conference in June. The policies deal with matters such as the economy, health, education and land reform.

On Monday, DA finance spokesman David Maynier will brief the media on how the party believes the budget should be constructed and what expenditure items should be prioritised. Also on Monday, Judge Dennis Davis, head of the Davis tax committee, will address the Cape Town Press Club on these and other issues, including the lifeboat extended to Absa’s predecessor Bankorp by the Reserve Bank.

As Gordhan addresses MPs, members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union will be participating in marches in five provinces (Gauteng, KwaZuluNatal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape) against the Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration. They will be protesting against the “antiworker” policies of austerity of these departments including retrenchments, outsourcing and casualisation.

On Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma will officiate at the Armed Forces Day celebrations at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

This year’s Armed Forces Day will commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the SS Mendi steamship which killed 618 black South Africans during the First World War.

Parliament’s ad hoc committee on the SABC is to meet on Tuesday to consider responses to its draft report on allegations of mismanagement at the national broadcaster.

Also on Tuesday, Department of Environmental Affairs officials will brief the portfolio committee on environmental affairs on making rhino poaching and killing a prosecutable offence. The Department of Basic Education will brief the basic education portfolio committee on the status and readiness of schools for the commencement of the 2017 school year.

The trade and industry portfolio committee will be briefed by departmental officials on the Performers’ Protection Bill with public hearings on the bill scheduled for Friday.

On Wednesday, the police committee will be briefed by the South African Police Service on crime statistics, while on Thursday Gordhan will brief members of four parliamentary committees on his budget.