Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Members of the Mayoral Committees for Finance and Local Economic Development
Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders, Kgoshi ML Mokoena
Director-General, Mr Thulani Mdakane
Head Official of Provincial Treasury, Ms Nombedesho Nkamba and other Heads of Departments
Chairpersons of Boards and Chief Executive Officers of our Public Entities
Business Executive of the Office of the Auditor-General in Mpumalanga
Representatives of Labour, Business, Civil Society and the Media
My special guests from various communities who have joined the proceedings this morning
The people of Mpumalanga
I am greatly honoured to table before this respectable House the third (3rd) Provincial Adjustments Appropriation of the fifth (5th) term of the ANC led Government.
This Appropriation seeks to reaffirm the party’s commitment to confront structural fault-lines of the economy as an integral part of the radical second phase of our transition from apartheid to a national democratic society.
Notwithstanding the fact that today is better than yesterday, it remains our considered submission that the progress made in eradicating the legacy of more than 340 years of socio-economic oppression must continue to set the tone and context of our budget processes.
Our budget adjustment decisions must therefore be guided by an urgent need to stimulate inclusive growth which is the nexus of equitable redistribution of economic assets and job creation.
The call made by the Freedom Charter that “the people shall share in the country’s wealth” remains relevant to this day.
Honourable Speaker,
This Appropriation also seeks to consolidate and advance “the people’s power for people’s economy” as underlined by the following imperatives amongst others:
- Enhancement of revenue generation to strengthen the Provincial fiscal and financial position underpinned by inclusive economic growth.
- The logic is simple, if the country remains in a low growth trap, there will not be adequate resources to meet the electoral mandate and legitimate expectations of our people;
- A need to institutionalise long term planning, integration and coordination capacity within Provincial and local government administrations to modernise and re-industrialise the Provincial economy; and
- Elimination of corruption and promotion of good governance and fiscal discipline;
The continued implementation of the National Development Plan should help to address binding constraints of the economy guided by the Nine (9) Point Plan, which directs, amongst others, that we must:
- Revitalise Agricultural Infrastructure, production and agro industries;
- Fast track the implementation of the Industrial Action Policy Plan;
- Encourage investment and access to credit in the production sectors of the economy, and
- Unlock small business potential, with specific focus on youth and women-owned enterprises.
Madam Speaker, implementation of the Youth target set-asides can no longer be deferred to a later date. Now is the time for action. Sixty per cent of jobs on new infrastructure projects must be set aside for young people.
On Trade and Investment, we must continuously assess our resource deployment options with regards to inbound and outbound missions to protect the national interest and to fight poverty, unemployment and inequality through a responsive positive trade account. Read more [PDF]
