The following speech was delivered in Parliament’s Appropriation Bill Debate.
Parliament has a duty to actually engage with the budgets it is asked to pass by the Executive.
It is not a rubber stamp.
If we are concerned about the size of the national debt, we have the power to change it.
If we are concerned about cuts to basic services, we have the power to change it.
Parliament has not taken this responsibility seriously this year. It has rushed through the budget votes, and held only one day of public hearings.
We have spent a month on this budget, 34 budget debates and 32 committee meetings. We’ve collectively spent at least 160 hours debating this budget. In all of this Parliament has not come up with a single amendment. Not one.
After all of that, our collective position is that we agree with every Rand of the Executive’s budget proposals.
This is not the work of an active Parliament. It is the work of a rubber stamp.
“Bail out Budget”
So today we are being asked to pass a “bail out budget” that includes deep cuts to basic services for the poor, in order to fund another bailout for Eskom.
Where is it coming from?
When the ANC votes ‘yes’ to this budget, they will be voting ‘yes’ to:
- a R2.4 billion cut from public transport for the poor, to bailout Eskom
- a R1.3 billion cut from Social Development, including cuts to the number of social workers, to bailout Eskom
- a R918 m cut from the municipal infrastructure grant, to bailout Eskom
- a R686 m cut from Health, to bailout Eskom
- a R312 m cut from Police, to bailout Eskom
- a R300 m cut from Housing, to bailout Eskom
Next time you hear the ANC speak about its care for the poor, or even its commitment to a developmental state, just read this ‘bailout budget’ and see what a lie it is.
Nearly every basic service on which the poor rely will be cut to fund this bailout budget.
The DA’s Amendments
The ANC in the Appropriations Committee also rejected the amendments offered by the DA, to redirect money from wasteful and unnecessary programmes back to basic services.
We proposed 8 amendments, all of which were budget neutral.
- We proposed an extra R2 billion for the Police budget, including an additional R200 m allocation to IPID to help fight corruption in the police and build an honest, professional police service; an extra R500 m to the Visible Policing budget for rural policing; and R1.3 billion to the training of Specialised Units within the SAPS. The ANC rejected these amendments.
- We proposed a R1.5 billion allocation for Basic Education to fund specialisation schools teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The ANC rejected this amendment.
- We proposed a R1.5 billion allocation in the Labour vote, with a dedicated fund to re-skill workers who lose jobs in the mining sector. The ANC rejected this amendment.
- We proposed an additional R3.4 billion allocation to the Department of Health, including a dedicated R450 m fund towards a mental health programme to ensure that the horror of the Life Esidimeni tragedy is never repeated again. The ANC rejected this amendment.
- We proposed a R3 billion allocation for desperately needed equipment in hospitals. This would include incubators for new born babies, radiotherapy machines for cancer patients, and other essential health equipment. The ANC rejected this amendment.
That is the truth of this budget. It is a budget which takes directly from the services the poor needs most, to fund the costs and the debts incurred by state capture at Eskom.
It is a bailout budget, with the poor doing all of the bailing out. This budget should be rejected.