Tito’s grim reality check

REACTION: IT WAS ‘PLACID’ AND ‘UNDERWHELMING’

There was little comforting news from Mboweni yesterday, as he painted a picture of an economy hobbled by rampant corruption and looting.

Outa believes it a ‘laudable attempt ... to clean up the mess left by Zuma’.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s 2018 mid-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) has been criticised by influential alliance partner, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), as being “underwhelming and “not going far enough, given the country’s numerous economic crises and the workers’ plight.

Opposition parties gave mixed reactions to the statement.

Economic Freedom Fighters deputy president Floyd Shivambu said Mboweni’s message contained nothing about how he planned to reduce the country’s high national debt, or how he planned to deal with tax avoidance and reignite the economy.

“We cannot afford ... to be servicing debt instead of reprioritising monies to deal with developmental challenges and poverty. He had no plan to reignite the economy, to create jobs for our people,” Shivambu said.

Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said: “Cosatu is deeply worried after this placid policy statement at a time when we expected much bolder and decisive leadership from government. This represents another missed opportunity because what is contained in the statement is nothing new.”

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) broadly welcomed Mboweni’s mid-term budget as a “laudable attempt to tackle South Africa’s financial crisis and clean up the mess left by the Zuma administration”.