Durban - Government will not be spending money it doesn’t
have, this was the message finance minister Malusi Gigaba took to the WEF
delegates in Durban.
Gigaba revealed on Wednesday he had initially wanted to be
an Anglican bishop while growing up, but then studied teaching only for
apartheid to drive him into politics.
“South Africa is a stable country, we have independent
institution who are playing their oversight role like the public protector and
the competition commission. Government will not be spending money it doesn’t
have but this does not mean we will not be investing in our economy,”
There is a need to transform the economy and create a
thriving manufacturing sector and focus more on beneficiation and the
development of SMMEs.
“There is an absence of economic activities in the
townships and rural areas, many of the problems that are faced by the rural
folk are a result of them being far away from the city centres. There are
programmes we are currently doing to transform the economy and ensure that we
have inclusive growth,”
Gigaba went on to say that it is unfair to say that
transforming the economy meant there will be corruption.
“It is unfair to mention economic transformation and
corruption in the same sentence. We cannot assume that just because we are
bringing in black people to the economy there is going to be corruption. We
cannot grow the economy on the basis of a large black population without any
assets. Government and the private sector need to ensure that black people are
skilled not only to be a middle class but to own the means of production,”
He said corruption remains a major concern in government
and they continue to fight it in the different departments.
“At Home Affairs, where I come from, they have a counter
corruption unit and it has arrested public servants who were involved in
corrupt activities. Some 22 were home affairs staff and the others were SAPS
members. Government continues to fight corruption,”
He encouraged young people to join politics because
Africa has a population that is getting younger.
“Africa’s population is getting younger, we need to see
that reflected in politics. Young people see things differently that our aged
politicians,” said Gigaba.
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