Nkosikhulule Nyembezi
Even in a budget that sought to rehabilitate the ANC in the eyes of citizens, the party could not resist making the rich, politically connected elite richer while appeasing the poor with the patronage of social spending.
Something worn out, something fresh. Something borrowed and something for appeasing first-time and disgruntled voters deserting the ANC en mass.
Like a penitent spouse trying to renew some decidedly tattered wedding vows, this week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered a Budget dressed up as a plea for forgiveness and a cushioned launching pad for the ANC election manifesto.
The government is desperate to present itself at the electoral altar on May 29, and on the 30th anniversary of our democracy as a virgin administration of Nelson Mandela, its wild fling with people and decisions that derailed progress in implementing our shared developmental goals conveniently forgotten behind the image of what in the eyes of many is an orphaned “Tintswalo”.
Something worn out? That would be the return of basic competence and what Godongwana referred to early in the speech as a government committed to 30 years of restoring “social and economic justice to our nation, and to decisively address the inequality that was the hallmark of systemic discrimination and dispossession”.
Instead, he lacked bragging points when he reminded us that “the budgets we have tabled since 1994 have been about securing the goal of growing the economy so that we can do more to address the inequalities and deprivation that still scar our society and undermine the promise of democracy.”
That would also be some of the undertakings he outlined in November’s Medium-Term Budget speech, which included stabilising the public finances to “fast-track growth-enhancing reforms” including a new financing mechanism for large infrastructure projects, and “reconfiguring the structure and size of the state while strengthening its capacity to deliver quality public services”.
His new idea was a fresh start on health and welfare by allocating an extra R1.4 billion for the National Health Insurance grant over three years, introducing a new R2bn conditional grant over the medium term to fund the roll-out of smart prepaid electricity and water meters, beginning with municipalities receiving national government debt-relief assistance.
All this may seem reasonable if you move in circles where everyone has a job that pays a living wage – maybe you are a family member of a minister whose electricity bill and other costs such as transport and security are paid for by taxpayers. It is somewhat less so to a self-employed worker in the informal economy wondering why the government has not announced an upward revision of the subsidy portion of kilowatts offered at the beginning of each month and the standardisation of electricity tariffs across municipalities to ensure implementation of the indigence policies meant to remove the wide price gap municipalities charge.
This is an overdue intervention in an overwhelming jobless environment where many face challenges of irregularity and unpredictability of income to afford daily living costs.
We can expect another wave of service delivery protests in the face of predicted informal electricity connections in urban areas.
Was there no other way of solving socio-economic problems arising from unemployment and poverty challenges specific to various age groups, without creating an election jamboree atmosphere that is full of loopholes ripe for exploitation?
This was a carefully calibrated budget from a once-dominant governing party that is javelin-throwing fiscal nuggets to secure a head-of-the-table spot in future coalition governments if a long way into gaining marginal majority seats in eight of the nine provincial legislatures and that leaves no room for opposition complacency.
But it also revealed that leopards do not change their spots.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government suffers from the same fatal weakness that Jacob Zuma revealed by increasing VAT in February 2018, and that is failing to realise how extracting more from the poor and less from the wealthy looks to everyone else.
The R61.4bn allocated for employment programmes over the medium term, the R7.4bn identified for the Presidential Employment Initiative, and the R765bn allocated to the peace and security cluster, also to add 10 000 new police recruits, was the borrowed element, swiped from opposition party election manifestos that will (if they win the elections and form coalition governments) have to stump up the extra money to make several wildly underfunded policies work, without necessarily getting the glory for them.
As statistics show time and again, the job losses are driven mainly by the formal sector, suggesting SA’s volatile economic activity and poor business confidence will continue to hinder employment objectives.
And for hard-pressed first-time and disgruntled voters who make up the most of the unemployed, there was little enticement except a crude reminder that this is an election year and they must vote.
To ensure the effective discharge of its duties during elections and its other responsibilities beyond the polls, Godogwana allocated an additional R2.3bn to the Electoral Commission and an extra R350 million to the police and defence to support elections. He added that a further R200m allocation was for political party funding.
The big welcome surprise of the Budget was the minister increasing permanent social grants by R100 “to keep pace with inflation and increase access”.
The grant recipients can stay afloat in meeting their daily living expenses, and some new entrants may benefit early instead of waiting for months because of numerous administrative hurdles.
We should never underestimate the ANC’s capacity to regenerate itself.
Ramaphosa’s government has identified its most significant weaknesses.
It is tackling them methodically, even if by recycling worn-out promises and presenting them as fresh solutions, and is not going down without a fight.
Every political party has its blind spots, vested interests and problems it knows it should solve but cannot for fear of upsetting its traditional supporters. The longer a party that is a former liberation movement is in power, the more these start to pile up until the country begins to feel stuck.
Voters conclude it is time to let the other lot have a go at shifting the logjam. “Time for a change” is the slogan all incumbents justifiably dread.
* Nyembezi is a researcher, policy analyst and human rights activist
Cape Times