The DA proposed five amendments to the Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B35-2018] to support senior citizens, improve road maintenance and improve rail transport.
We specifically proposed an increase in the appropriation of Department of Social Development [Vote No. 17] of R1.2 billion to provide the 3.5 million beneficiaries of the old age grant with a R355 end-of-year “top up”.
The proposed R355 end-of-year “top-up” to the old age grant could have been funded by a decrease in the appropriation for the Department of Public Enterprises [Vote No. 9] of R1.2 billion, which was earmarked for the bailout South African Express Airways.
However, members of the governing party rejected the proposal after nearly three hours of deliberations at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Appropriations last week in Parliament.
Which proves that when it came to a choice between helping pensioners, who are struggling to make ends meet or bailing out South African Express Airways, the ANC and EFF chose to bail out South African Express Airways.