DA to oppose any SOE funding in Mboweni’s budget speech

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will strongly oppose any funding of the financial cash-strapped state-owned entities in Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s budget speech on Wednesday afternoon.

Billions of rands have been spent on the recapitalisation of some of the state-owned entities that are struggling to remain afloat financially.

The party also says it is against tax increases, if Mboweni is considering making an announcement to this effect as South African households can’t afford them.

DA shadow minister of finance Geordin Hill-Lewis says they also want an additional allocation to the roll-out of vaccines.

“We don’t believe that South Africans can afford any new taxes at the moment. They have just been through the most difficult year. Many people have lost their jobs, many families have lost income, we can’t have any more taxes,” adds Hill-Lewis.

“Secondly, is the Minister providing enough money for the vaccine for every single South African? Are there any bailouts for bankrupt zombie state-owned entities? We will oppose those bailouts very strongly,” Hill-Lewis says.

Expectations ahead of the speech: Dr. Nthabiseng Moleko:

Meanwhile, Chief Economist at Investec, Annabel Bishop, says the government may not even need to borrow to fund its vaccination programme.

“South Africans may see a small revenue, overrun estimate when we see the budget announced and this is a consequence of the fact that government might look for a slightly lower level of collection for 2021. Obviously, the final figures are not in yet.”

“So, it will only come through at the end of March, but already there is an indication that we might see possibly up to a R100 billion. Of course, this will then cover the vaccine rollout programme that South Africa has already started,” says Bishop.

Budget Speech 2021 | Previewing the speech with Busi Sibeko: