Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says the National Treasury is making progress in putting measures in place to fast-track the process of considering unsolicited proposals from businesses seeking to offer the state services through Public Private Partnerships.
Godongwana was tabling his ministry’s R33.2-billion budget vote speech in Parliament yesterday. He also said that he would be hastening the process of signing similar memoranda of agreements which govern the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO), transport and water sectors.
“I announced that the National Treasury published revised regulations for Private-Public Partnerships for public comment.
Fast-tracking private sector participation
“These comments are currently being considered. And I will be gazetting new regulations aimed at streamlining the administrative process. [This will] reduce the timelines and provide for a systematic approach to unsolicited proposals,” said Godongwana.
“While these reforms continue, National Treasury is working on signing memoranda of agreement. This is similar to the agreement that governs the [IPPO], in the transport and water sectors. It is aim at fast-tracking, in a programmatic way, private sector participation in these sectors.”
The new regulations and fast-tracking of the unsolicited bids have been seen by many as long overdue. This will encourage innovation and value for money for the state.
Godongwana was reappointed to his position by President Cyril Ramaphosa under the newly formed government of national unity. He told MPs that fiscal deficits rose persistently. To such an extent that the level of debt has reached over R5-trillion in the current financial year.
“This debt attracts debt-service costs which are estimated to exceed R380-billion this year. And it crowds-out desperately needed resources for service delivery. For this reason, our fiscal strategy aims to reduce the deficit and stabilise government debt,” he said.
Opposition parties reject budget vote
Godongwana’s budget vote did not go down well with the leading opposition parties.
The EFF’s Floyd Shivhambu said his party would refuse to support the minister’s budget vote. He said nothing was going to change. Especially with the ANC joining forces with the DA in government.
“The budget vote which you are saying we must support here does not radically and drastically depart from what has been in the past 20 years. So the DA and all these neoliberal forces have joined to continue with what you have been doing. Which is a neo-liberal agenda that will not improve the lives of our people.
“And we see that the lives of our people are not changing because of high levels of unemployment. Even of the 16 million people who are employed, more than 50% percent of them don’t have a living wage,” said Shivhambu.
He added that it was concerning that the R380-billion that the government was paying towards servicing its debt obligations stood at more than 50% of the state’s total expenditure, and that there is no end in sight.
Meaningless jargon
MK Party MP Des van Rooyen said his party would also not support Godongwana’s budget vote. He said it was filled with “meaningless jargon”.
“These are words that are articulated by an elite that is insensitive to the real needs of the majority of South Africans,” he said.
Action SA also rejected Godongwana’s budget vote. It said the National Treasury had failed to look after the interests of the most vulnerable. The party cited budget cuts to NGOs looking after the most vulnerable in our society.
