28 October 2009
The SACP welcomes the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement delivered by the Minister of Finance yesterday. The policy statement has laid a firm basis for engagement with government on its fiscal priorities and issues of macro-economic and monetary policy.
In the context of the unfavourable global economic conditions, the SACP welcomes the MTBPS as the best attempt to safeguard and advance the strategic task of the ANC as contained in the manifesto. We welcome the increased expenditure in education, health and rural development. The continued spending to sustain the state led infrastructure investment remains one the critical defensive measures to help us recover from the disaster imposed on us by the capitalists system. We agree that there needs to be a disciplined spending in our investment in infrastructure and we should review some of the projects that are indeed not positively contributing to our developmental objectives.
We further welcome the commitment to fight corruption in prioritising service delivery and spending public money responsibly. Corruption must be fought wherever it occurs, in the public and private sectors, as corruption is more often than not tantamount to stealing from the poor. Therefore the fight against corruption is not just a moral crusade but an important political struggle to defend and deepen our democracy in the interests of the workers and the poor. This is one of the key issues we are taking up in our 2009 Red October campaign.
Contrary to popular perception and a myth sometimes perpetrated by the media, it is often the rich and other elites who annually steal billions of rands in both the public and private sector. Sometimes they also do it through practices such as price fixing. It is not the ordinary workers and the poor who are the biggest corrupters and corruptees, but often those in positions of influence and access to these resources.
The SACP welcomes the intentions signalled by the Minister of a willingness to engage on macro-economic policy framework. The ongoing discussion and assessment of the current policy package remains relevant and the assessment should be against potential to support our developmental objectives and job creation opportunities. Whilst we also welcome the reduction in the red tape that will have an immediate impact on lowering the exchange rate, these measures whilst important in the current context, might have to be reviewed once there is an economic upturn to safeguard the vulnerability of the rand.
Sadly, in the run up to yesterday, we have witnessed much hysteria and attempts to play off the Minister against the Left with calls for him to stamp his authority and signal who is in charge. This is a worrying growing phenomenon in our national debate where the ‘rooigevaar’ warning has substituted robust engagement on complex policy issues facing our country. At the time that the world as a whole is pondering with difficult issues of responding to the failures of capitalism and the triumphalism of neo-liberalism, proponents of the market economy have offered no alternative response despite the rhetoric about shutting down the left. It is this kind of intolerance that has led us to where we are in the first place. We reject this style of engagement clearly aimed at entrenching class interest of the minority over the majority who are poor.
The SACP will continue to engage at appropriate policy platforms to shape and influence proper responses to rescue our economy from the current recession and for an accelerated implementation of the priorities in the ANC Manifesto.
Issued by the SACP.
Contact:
Malesela Maleka
SACP Spokesperson – 082 226 1802