Tips for finance minister

At this time of the year there’s no shortage of advice for the minister of finance — though it’s not advice he needs but political will, something always in short supply in an election year.

The Eskom crisis should focus everyone’s minds: if it runs its course, it will only be a matter of time before political sovereignty is surrendered to creditors as the IMF steps in. When that happens, the first thing to go will be the bloated public service, whose vast salary bill is one of the reasons why there’s no money to fix the failing infrastructure.

Faced with the inevitability of all this, perhaps the minister (and the ANC) would like to consider a few crisis measures. The first would be a 20% “voluntary” pay reduction for all public servants. This could be loaded so the more highly paid surrender a higher percentage and those on the lower tiers slightly less.

Then there could be an additional 10% Eskom levy imposed on all taxpayers (except public servants) and which, like the public-service wage reduction, would apply only until Eskom’s financial health has been restored.

To stop all this from becoming the political football no-one wants in an election year, a government of national unity would have to be established, with all major political parties brought into the cabinet.

Since there’s no point in becoming the captain of the Titanic as it steams full speed ahead into the iceberg, averting the disaster should be everyone’s priority.

Michael Fridjhon Parktown