Budget 2023 overview
“As the ACDP we want to express concern about the escalating public debt levels. We see, with the additional taking on of Eskom debt, it does escalate public debt levels over the medium term to R5.4-trillion and then of course there are service costs [which will] increase to an average of R336bn per year. Now, that crowds out much-needed expenditure on health, policing and education. We have got to address that.” “[Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s] announcement of bailouts for failed state-owned enterprises [SOEs], including the Land Bank, Post Office and SAA, is a clear misallocation of public funds. However, this pales in comparison to the mother of all bailouts — the offloading of over R250bn of Eskom’s debt onto our sovereign balance sheet. The minister failed to mention the president’s proposed holding company for SOEs, the National Health Insurance or the new minister of electricity. This adds to current economic policy incoherence and promotes uncertainty. The DA will not support funding for any of these expenditures.” “The EFF is shocked that despite the seriousness of the impending debt crisis because of fiscal and monetary policy mismanagement, the minister of finance unashamedly saw fit to present a budget that does not have a plan to offer immediate and sustainable solutions to deal with the debt crisis. Today South Africa will pay R366bn annually [to service the debt] over the medium term — the biggest spending item of the budget — without a plan in the short, medium and long term. What is even more concerning is the fact that debt has in the recent past become dollardenominated without any sensible explanation, which makes the debt repayment even more expensive … [President Cyril] Ramaphosa’s government has lost all legitimacy to table a budget in parliament.”
Sinawo Tambo, EFF “The governing party has had too many chances in which they have failed to transform the economy. It is difficult to believe that the minister of finance could announce any plans that South Africans can actually believe in. This is the difference between trust and hope — trust has been long broken, but now every patriotic citizen has also lost hope. This budget will fall short if it fails to increase the allocations made to departments and local governments, as this is where communities can see tangible changes in their lives
Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, IFP “Godongwana today missed a golden opportunity to stimulate economic growth because of [the government’s] misguided priorities. These priorities include throwing yet another R1bn down the bottomless SAA-pit, while the lifeline to the Post
Office amounts to R2.4bn. All while just one rand more in aid to failed public enterprises almost comes down to high treason, given the country's critical financial position. Expenditure and government debt are out of control, and the unavoidable taking on of Eskom’s debt ... will further weaken the fiscal position.”
Wouter Wessels, Freedom Front Plus