MARK BURKE | Slow and steady wins the race in moves to reset economy

When former DA leader Helen Zille unveiled the DA's 2012 manifesto, her foremost priorities were sustainable economic growth and real job creation with sensible policy. This was as our country sought to emerge from the global financial crisis and during Jacob Zuma's eight lost years.

It was also in 2012 that our debt-to-GDP ratio started climbing from the mid-20s to the mid-30s. The then DA shadow minister of finance, Tim Harris, warned strongly against government's rapid increases in debt without the economic growth to pay for it. By 2016, when state owned enterprises were incinerating money quicker than coal, we led the fight for an inquiry into state capture.

When Ramaphoria swept across the country in 2018, our core message remained on measures that would actually ensure economic growth and job creation. We were not star-struck by bullet trains and smart cities. We opposed each bailout. We opposed anticompetitive measures. We opposed a centrist behemoth state geared for patronage at the expense of lean and effective public infrastructure.  

This is all to say that while South African politics has changed immensely over the years, our core beliefs have not.

This week, as minister Enoch Godongwana presented the seventh administration's first budget, things have started changing. While the DA has always been the responsible adult around, we were now also in the room where it happened. Our deputy minister of finance, Ashor Sarupen, has been instrumental in driving DA policy in government.

Pro-business measures announced have been long in the making and are now part of our national financial roadmap. This is of course thanks to the DA voters who have supported us over the years, including our most recent elections. Because of those voters, we have been able to deliver: 

• A core focus on front-line services through reducing government debt: Currently, government leaks more than a fifth of its annual expenditure servicing debt. For perspective, in 2024/25, that is R386bn, or more than triple SAPS’ annual budget, at R114bn. Through implementing a fiscal anchor, we can ensure that over time government’s spending is targeted and priorities are focused on the front-line. Among others, we desperately need more doctors, nurses and teachers.
• A final end to bailouts: After half-a-trillion rand in bailouts over more than a decade, a red line has finally been drawn. Hard-earned taxpayer funds will no longer prop up failing parastatals and will rather be spent on front-line services, infrastructure building and addressing our debt.
• No new taxes and an end to anti-poor taxes, with a clear signal being the end of e-tolls: Tied to the need to preserve taxpayer funds, this budget maintains our current tax rates. To drive this message home, it’s been decided that e-toll debt will be serviced from a combination of national and Gauteng provincial funds, instead of collecting an additional tax from motorists in the economic heart of the country. Taxes are already too high and will not rise further.
• Bold structural reforms: This budget begins the work of breaking Eskom’s monopoly through implementing a diversified energy mix and making it possible for those that generate electricity to compete. This will not only better guarantee energy security, ensuring load-shedding remains in the past, but will lower costs for consumers and tame inflation through a more competitive, open market.

In addition, this budget opens access to freight rail, which is still the monopoly of a failing Transnet. This means farmers and miners will be able to run their own goods as third parties on our rail network, eventually allowing them to get their minerals and produce to ports in reasonable time periods with reduced cost.

Lastly, and importantly, this budget embraces the private sector as a partner, not an antagonist. For too long, government has viewed its relations with the private sector through a zero-sum lens. The private sector, with its funding and competitive market enhanced capabilities, can now be a partner of the state and not its assumed rival.

While this budget introduces an embrace of the private sector in growing our economy, more can always be done. With the electorate on our side, we can deliver more. 

Some of the priorities the DA will continue to fight for include:

• A fiscal anchor legislated into law: Our country cannot afford to go backwards on its fiscal anchor, as we currently sit near a financial cliff. Should our debt continue to rise, not only will we have less to invest in critical areas, but we will also join the queue of nations at risk of state failure, due to debt crises.
• Concessioning of ports: While we welcome third-party access to freight rail, we continue to have some of the least efficient ports in the world. Through allowing competent provinces and local governments to partner with the private sector towards better port efficiency, we can export more and bring in more revenue for South Africans.
• Reviewing fuel price levies: While fuel costs are currently lower and the rand stronger, coupled with ample global oil production, we remain vulnerable to shocks and high prices at the pump. Through reviewing levies placed on fuel, we can allow some cushioning where it’s needed most: in the pocket of the average South African.

There have been die-hard DA supporters for decades. From a lone MP who stood up against apartheid, we’ve grown to represent almost a quarter of parliament. We have ministers and deputy ministers in posts that are now shaping the affairs of what can be a proud and prosperous nation. We are indebted to those supporters, but believe that we’re only now catching our stride.

While we invite South Africans to join us in our important mission, we will not tire of fighting the good fight for the soul of South Africa. 

• Dr Mark Burke is DA spokesperson on appropriations and Wendy Alexander is DA spokesperson on finance