Cape Town – The Budget tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in Parliament last week has the full backing of the Cabinet, says Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe.
This comes as labour federation Cosatu threw its weight behind Gordhan amid speculation that President Zuma would wield the axe when he reshuffles his cabinet.
Speaking at a post-cabinet briefing in Parliament on Thursday, Radebe said the cabinet supported the commitments made in the budget to advance radical economic transformation and drive the population to an inclusive growth.
“In the main the budget acknowledges that growth without transformation would only reinforce the inequitable patters of the past,” he said.
After Gordhan delivered his Budget speech four of the ministers remained seated when other MPs, including President Zuma and the opposition, applauded him. The photo of the ministers went viral on social media.
A day after Budget day, the ANC Women’s League ripped through Gordhan’s speech, saying there were incoherences between his speech and Zuma’s State of the Nation Address.
“We are hoping that this incoherence will not trickle down to various departments that are responsible for implementation of government programmes."
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“This will be a direct sabotage to the radical socio-economic transformation agenda of the ANC-led government,” it said in its statement.
Asked whether the Budget had been unanimously applauded, Radebe said he was surprised that such a question could be asked on whether cabinet colleagues could be doubted in supporting their colleague.
“The Budget is actually not just a Budget of the National Treasury. It is a budget of government,” he said.
“Even though the National Treasury plays a leading and a critical role, there is a team that deals with matters of budget called the Ministers Committee on Budget,” Radebe said.
“Before the Minister of Finance delivers the Budget vote, as he did last time, the cabinet is fully briefed on all the details in terms of allocation of resources,” Radebe added.
He said the central thrust of government spending programmes in rural areas was in education, health services and municipal services.
The Budget allocations, he said, supported economic growth.
“The Budget plays a central role in transformation by promoting redistribution and directing scarce resources towards catalytic investments in human and physical capital.”