Rise Mzansi's Zibi on national budget: It's time for govt to make tough choices

CAPE TOWN - Rise Mzansi leader, Songezo Zibi, said that while the national budget wasn’t perfect, it’s time for government to make a decision.

Zibi, who’s also the chairperson of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), said that this year’s budget process had taught the executive and Parliament many lessons which should inform how budgets were shaped in the future. 

The National Assembly is on Wednesday voting on the Appropriation Bill, which allocates money to all government departments, after four months of unprecedented wrangling and court battles over how the budget should be funded.

Zibi said that South Africans did not have the capacity to pay higher taxes, and it was time for government to make tough choices.
 
"This means deciding which programmes are more important than others, which requires that we commit to and do the spending reviews beginning this year. Programmes that support economic growth and employment, safety, health and education in modern skills are obviously a priority, but even those must be thoroughly examined for effectiveness."