No regrets for departing Treasury boss
LUNGISA Fuzile will no longer be South Africa’s director-general of the National Treasury from Tuesday.
And he leaves the office with no regrets. “There’s nothing that I should have done that I didn’t do,” he said.
Fuzile spoke on several issues he faced during his 18-year tenure, and gave his views on land reform, the economic status and radical economic transformation, at an event hosted by the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
He said his team at Treasury had tried to protect the country from becoming a failed state.
“We want to ensure that the current generation does not bequeath to a future generation a country that is so indebted that it loses its fiscal sovereignty,” Fuzile said.
“Once on an IMF programme, your policies are not made by policy makers. The parliamentarians will just go there symbolically because the bulk of the budget has to be drawn in a way that meets the requirements of the lender.
“You don’t want to put yourself in that position. It’s better to impose tougher decisions on ourselves, rather than have it imposed on us.”
He said it was tough to imagine changes could be made to the existing “sound” fiscal management policies in a way that could jeopardise the economy.
“Any culture that is founded on strong and good values and principles is a threat to those who might want to change it. I am not saying it can’t happen, but it’s hard to imagine that happening,” Fuzile said.
The concern about radical economic transformation would be better understood if the radical part was not included, he said.
“Sometimes the adjectives detract from the real thing. There’s no denying that our economy needs transformation. We want the economy to grow fast in order to create opportunities for those previously excluded as well.”
Fuzile criticised those calling for a fast-tracking of land redistribution as wasting “valuable” energy, and rather called for a focus on practical steps within the framework the constitution.
“It diverts attention from the real issues. Redistribution of land is necessary, but it must pursued within the framework of the law,” he said.
Fuzile said government also needed to introduce programmes to empower those who had acquired land under the redistribution programme.
He is also willing to share advice based on his experience, although is hoping that it won’t need to be with his successor.
Hinting at what he would do after his last day in office, Fuzile thanked those in attendance at the UCT gathering for listening to “a cattle farmer”.