Cosatu rejects IMF loan, DA demands transparency
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Covid-19 funding package is proof of the damage done to the economy by years of mismanagement, bad policy and corruption.
The IMF board on Monday approved the R70 billion support package to help the country weather the economic storm brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The loan comes with an interest rate of around 1% and much less stringent condition than the IMF usually attaches to its financing.
The DA’s Geordin Hill-Lewis says government needs to be transparent on how it is spending the money.
"The Democratic Alliance calls on Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to publish detailed monthly reports on the disbursement of Covid relief funds, how they are being spent, which companies are beneficiaries and who the directors of those companies are.
“He must appear regularly before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance to table these reports and face rigorous scrutiny and oversight from MPs and appoint a special inspector-general for Covid-19 expenditure, with powers to interdict corruption before it happens.”
Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says borrowing money when the country is buckling under the weight of corruption is not an ideal solution.
"The president and National Treasury have done nothing to stop the 10% loss in our budget through mismanagement of funds," says Cosatu's Sizwe Pamla.
He says the trade union federation is also concerned about the conditions the IMF has attached to the loan.
"We understand that the IMF imposes extreme conditions when they borrow the country money. What we are going to see is the economy that is looking for stimulus suffocating even further.
“By giving this loan the IMF now have the power to impose conditions in South Africa.”