The New Dawn got its mojo back and 5 highlights from 'Vrye Weekblad'

Was Tito Mboweni's budget speech a sign that Team New Dawn got its mojo back?

There was no whiff of ANC dogma or struggle nostalgia in the finance minister's budget speech. He announced less personal tax, focused on economic growth and reined in state spending — not the language of a national democratic revolution.

It was the most non-ANC budget since 1994 and was exactly what economists and business have been pleading for in the last two years. Mboweni drew a line in the sand about government spending and the bloated government salary bill, even if it would lead to a war with trade unions.

Mboweni was the one on the podium, but this budget was approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet. And this means the state will cut its spending by R261bn, R160bn of which will come from government employees' salary packages.

In this week's edition of Afrikaans digital weekly Vrye Weekblad. we take a look at what this mean for the country's economic future.

Another clear message that Ramaphosa's government sent with this budget, is that corruption will no longer be tolerated and that state capturers will be prosecuted. A massive R2.4bn has been allocated to the NPA, the Hawks and the Special Investigations Unit.

This means that about 800 investigators and 277 state prosecutors can be appointed to look after cases such as those following from the Zondo commission, Mboweni said.

In October last year, Mboweni allocated an extra R64m to the prosecuting authority in his medium-term budget.

The RET faction in the ANC (previously known as the Zuma faction, the Magashule faction or the fightback brigade) will sing in the same choir with the trade unions and EFF that Mboweni has sold out to WMC and neo-liberals, but it was these factions that got us in our current mess under Jacob Zuma's reign in the first place.

Read the full article in this week's Vrye Weekblad

Must-read articles in this week's Vrye Weekblad

>> Browse the full February 28 edition

THE WEEK IN POLITICS | The EFF and RET faction have stepped up their efforts to cast doubt upon the judiciary, writes Max du Preez.

THABO'S GENOCIDE | Just as FW de Klerk should rather not express his opinion about democracy, Thabo Mbeki should not share his about crimes against humanity, writes Piet Croucamp.

FREE TO READ — KIDS WHO KILL | How do you raise a child who doesn't kill? André le Roux share a few lessons from his latest book.

HIGH TEA BISCUITS | Henk Serfontein bakes a variation of his grandma Anna Ziezanna Dirktina's three-spice cookies that would have her turning in her grave.

IT'S A FAT THING | South Africans are fat, and it is costing us. Not just in terms of health, but also in the medical expenses that come with it, writes Wilma Stassen.