Soundbite by Dr Mark Burke MP.
The DA welcomes the R3.00 fuel levy decrease that the Finance Minister will shortly announce, following calls made by the DA last week for just such relief.
The DA proposed a R3,17 reduction with a funded plan and the Minister came within close enough striking distance with his announcement today.
We understand that for many South Africans, the over R7 increase in diesel and R2 increase in petrol prices will seriously damage budgets and affect business decisions.
The DA looks forward to more details as to how this fuel levy relief will be funded.
We cannot afford to take on more national debt.
Nor can taxpayers be expected to fund this relief through some other form of taxation.
The only viable route to funding this relief is to make spending more efficient.
The National Treasury must refuse to grant permission to broken state entities such as the Compensation Fund and SETAs to keep their huge annual surpluses. This discipline must be extended across entities. Treasury needs to look at the broader national balance sheet to give South Africans an urgent buffer.
South Africa is able to move from being a country that responds to economic crises haphazardly and at the last moment, to a proud nation that plans and budgets in a far more proactive manner.
The DA will keep digging in our heels whenever the ANC parts of this government are too slow to respond to the everyday pain of South Africans.