Budget supports economic transformation and job creation

Minister Tito Mboweni told Members of the National Assembly that his fourth reason for hope is that the 2021 Budget explicitly supports economic transformation and job creation. To that end, government’s R6.2 trillion spending over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) gives expression to the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan,

According to Minister Mboweni the 2021 budget is not an austerity budget. “Our fastestgrowing area of spending is our investment in the future – capital payments. The Minister for the Department of Public Service and Administration, Minister Senzo Mchunu, is working with our partners in organised labour to achieve a fair public sector compensation dispensation when negotiations on a new multi-year wage settlement begin later this year.”

The government has made R83.2 billion available for the public employment programmes since the 2020 Special Adjustments Budget. “We are now augmenting this by R11 billion for the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, taking the total funding for employment creation to nearly R100 billion,” he said.

On land reforms, the government plans to finalise 1 409 restitution claims at a cost of R9.3 billion over the next three years to achieve redress and equitable access to land. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has also set aside R896.7 million for post-settlement support. “This will include the recruitment of approximately 10 000 experienced extension officers,” the Minister added.

A total MTEF allocation of R7 billion is made to the Land Bank. This allocation will help to resolve the bank’s current default and reestablish the development and transformation mandate. “This amount will not affect the expenditure ceiling,” Mr Mboweni explained, “but will be offset through an expenditure reprioritisation process.”

Furthermore, any support to state-owned companies and public entities will have to be done through budget reprioritisation as outlined in the 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.

The Department of Small Business Development has allocated R4 billion over the medium-term to township and rural enterprises, including blended finance initiatives. The Department of Tourism has reprioritised R540 million over the medium-term to establish the Tourism Equity Fund as one of the measures to support the tourism sector’s recovery.

“THIS AMOUNT WILL NOT AFFECT THE EXPENDITURE CEILING, BUT WILL BE OFFSET THROUGH AN EXPENDITURE REPRIORITISATION PROCESS.”

- Mr Tito Mboweni