Medium Term Budget Policy Statement 2009

In the opening statement of the medium term budget policy, Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said: ‘We have to do things differently, because over the past 14 months, the world has faced the most intense economic crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis is not of our making, yet its impact has been very serious.’ He also went on to conclude that: ‘We will not waste this crisis.’

Last year Trevor Manuel, in tabling the budget indicated that there were storm-clouds on the horizon. With some hindsight we find that every cloud has a silver lining. In South Africa, articles on the global crisis have tended to be relegated to the back pages of the press largely due to excellent transparent institutional implementation of our fiscal policy.

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement is guided by the obligations of government, embodied in legislation and overseen by Parliament in terms of policy direction and political mandate as expressed in the State of the Nation Address. In the 2009 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement [MTBPS] the Minister, yesterday, set out the priorities and main budget points for the next 3 years. The following is an excerpt:

Honourable Speaker, this Medium Term Budget Policy Statement presents the fiscal framework within which the Cabinet will work to deliver on the five priorities of this government:

• Creating jobs;
• Enhancing the quality of education;
• Improving health outcomes;
• Rural development;
• Fighting crime and corruption.

The MTBPS updates the revenue, spending and borrowing projections for the current fiscal year. It reflects the collective understanding of Cabinet on the economic and budgetary challenges ahead.

The MTBPS has a special place in the Parliamentary programme, because it enables legislators and the public, business and civil society leaders, workers and citizens, to consider government's budget plans several months ahead of the Budget itself.

In this policy statement we have five clear assurances for all South Africans:

• We will sustain our delivery of services and developmental programmes;
• We will carefully prioritise and focus our efforts;
• We will be diligent in the management of the public finances - and not burden future generations unduly;
• We will vigorously pursue savings within all spheres of government; and
• We will ensure consistency in policy, while creating room for engagement and review.

These are commitments that flow from values embedded in our Constitution. But for us to succeed we need a shared compact, across all the divides in this House, and across the nation:

• We will not tolerate corruption;
• We will act forcefully against wastage;
• We will insist on value for money for the billions that we spend;
• We will clean up the procurement system and take strong action against those who feed selfishly off the state!

Inkohlakalo ngeke siyibekezele! – We won’t tolerate corruption!

South Africans from all walks of life know what it means to be both resilient and sensible in the face of adversity. We are a remarkable people. We will succeed in our long walk to a better life for all our people.

Can we do this? Can we work together, to meet five shared, national, social and development goals? Yes we can!

Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan
27 October 2009