African National Congress (ANC) head of economic policy Enoch Godongwana on Sunday confirmed that Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Monday would meet with the governing party’s top six officials over his economic recovery plan for the country.
In an interview with eNCA’s The Fix programme on Sunday, Godongwana said South Africans had to have their say on Mboweni’s proposed economic strategy, which he was criticised for by the ANC’s alliance partners who accused him of failing to consult with them before the document’s public release last week.
“What I can confirm is that Mr Mboweni and I will be appearing before the top six tomorrow. I’m not sure what the agenda is but I know it is about the document,” Godongwana said.
The document, titled Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth, and Competitiveness: Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa, was released on National Treasury’s website last Tuesday. Mboweni said the paper was a detailed examination of the structural reforms that could reverse the downward trend in the country’s growth potential.
However, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called for the withdrawal of the draft economic strategy document. Cosatu said the paper was an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis by pushing a right-wing agenda.
Godongwana said the debate over the proposed economic strategy was critical as the country urgently needed to frame its own economic narrative.
“We all agree that there’s a crisis and that crisis needs [us] to build confidence in SA, and also the fact that we are likely to get rating agencies coming our way, and that the finance minister is going to have the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in October. So, we need what is called an economic story,” he said. “To the extent that this document does that, it’s quite crucial and timely intervention”.
Asked whether President Cyril Ramaphosa was consulted over the document and supported it prior to its public release, Godongwana said the president knew about the contents of the paper. He said a lot of people in the leadership of the ANC also knew about its contents.
“Everybody has got the document, I suspect it is the timing of the release and the proper consultation on that timing, then the release itself [of the document],” Godongwana said.
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“I rushed to the taxi rank and told her I was going home with her. We kept chatting on BBM while driving in her car with her uncle. Her uncle didn’t know anything. read more
Source – EWN