Durban - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni was being naïve when he described our country as being at a cross road during his medium-term budget policy statement.
The reality is that a few years ago we were on a relatively good path. Then, we were promised, “working together we can do more,” and so we took a Sho’t Left down a road that led us to Nkandla.
There we found opulence but it was mainly for one man and a few of his friends. Now, a lot poorer, we have to plough a path back to the main road.
Mboweni made it clear that this “path of redemption” would not be easy but he didn’t clarify what he meant by the redemption.
Was it the action of being saved from sin, error or evil or the action of clearing a debt? Perhaps it was both. Mboweni’s speech failed to inspire confidence in terms of content and delivery. But, he did a lot to restore trust between government and society.
There was a time, not too long ago, when the highway we were travelling on was called Radical Economic Transformation. Mboweni’s speech made it clear that road is undergoing a name change.
Since President Cyril Ramaphosa came to power, government and mining companies are closer than ever before to reaching an agreement. That will bring stability to a sector that was once the engine room of our economy.
Visa requirements are being eased to boost tourism while government has undertaken to handle land reform in a responsible manner.
There is now a drive to clean up state owned enterprises and Mboweni made it clear that privatisation was an option.
Ever increasingly, the populist rhetoric that was part of our national conversation is changing to something more realistic. This was evident when Mboweni pointed out: “we need to pay our tolls”. He also emphasised the independence of the Reserve Bank following recent talk that the central bank should be nationalised. Government has also made it clear that the public sector wage bill is too high and that sooner or later, it would have to change if we are to reduce our national debt.
This week Mboweni will mark his third week as our finance minister. It’s longer than some have served so it’s a positive that he has survived this long.
Mboweni is on the right track. The road ahead is long and filled with challenges. But, as a country, we’ve experienced long walks before and we have overcome. We will do so again.