MTBPS2019: We will fight potential deep provincial budget cuts to bailout SOEs

The full horror of national government’s mismanagement of the economy, mismanagement of the public finances and mismanagement of state-owned enterprises will be revealed when the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, tables the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on 30 October 2019 in National Parliament.

We expect deep potential budget cuts of 5 per cent, or R2.8 billion, in 2020/21, 6 per cent, or R3.5 billion in 2021/22, and 7 per cent in, or 4.3 billion, in 2022/23, which risk compromising service delivery in the Western Cape.

To put the potential budget cuts in perspective, the expected budget cut in 2020/21, is five times the total budget, of R524 million, for community safety in 2019/20 in the Western Cape.

We are committed to fighting these potential budget cuts and have already written to the minister informing him that the potential budget cuts are unaffordable, unrealistic and will compromise service delivery in the Western Cape.

What makes these potential budget cuts so unfair is that they are being imposed on provinces to effectively bailout zombie state-owned enterprises such as Denel, Eskom, South African Airways, South African Express and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

In the end, it is simply wrong to cut provincial budgets, which will compromise services to the poor, in order to subsidise the rich, who choose to fly on zombie state-owned airlines like South African Airways and South Africa Express.  

We will not go down without a fight, and will do everything possible to oppose budget cuts that risk compromising frontline service delivery, especially health and education, in the Western Cape.