If it was Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s maiden medium-term budget policy statement in Parliament yesterday, it would have easily been described as the baptism of fire.
But this was Nene’s second mini budget briefing, after taking over from Co-operative and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan last year. And it is sure to have been his most nightmarish by far, with violent student protests outside Parliament and the disruption of his speech by the EFF of Julius Malema.
While Parliament’s security officers eventually managed to eject the EFF from the National Assembly chamber, the students continued to battle with police inside and outside the Parliamentary precinct.
Nene managed to put on a brave face against the continuing pitched battles between the police and students, and continued to deliver his statement under heavy police presence at the entrance of the National Assembly building.
He appeared unperturbed by the loud sounds of stun grenades coming from outside as police removed thousands of students threatening to storm Parliament.
The students from across the Cape Town area had earlier threatened to march to Parliament to deliver their message of no fee increases to Nene.
On arrival at Parliament some of the students managed to force their way into the precinct. But some were blocked by the police from storming the building where Nene was speaking.
Public order police members had their hands full as they tried to contain the tense situation.
Nene must count on the support of his party, the ANC, and opposition parties inside Parliament as they managed to block attempts by the EFF to postpone the mini budget.
Funding crisis
The EFF had called for the speech to be shelved for another day while a solution to the funding crisis at universities was found. But the presiding officer said the matter needed to be voted on because most of the parties supported the tabling of the mini budget by Nene.
Following a vote count on the proposal, the majority reigned and Nene continued to deliver his medium-term budget policy statement.
But for students it was the battle for another day as they continued with their protest. For those who would have wanted to hear whether he had allocated anything on education they missed it, as the students continued with their protest.
In his speech Nene acknowledged the challenges faced by the higher education sector. As he explained to journalists in the briefing earlier, he repeated in the National Assembly later that the government was attending to the crisis.
It was for the first time democratic South Africa’s history that a budget speech had been disrupted and almost abandoned.
BUSINESS REPORT