EFF: Govt debt crisis 'tantamount to treason'
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has described government debt as “tantamount to treason and a fundamental betrayal of future generations”.
The red berets were reacting to the state’s 2022 budget, delivered by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday.
“The self-admitted disaster that we are in as a result of their governance was made evident by the Minister of Finance himself, who unashamedly admitted that South Africa’s debt has reached R4.3 trillion, and he expects it to rise to R5.4 trillion in the medium term, under his tenure,” said the party's chief whip Floyd Shivambu.
“This means that the government needs to service debt annually at an amount of R330 billion. This amount exceeds the budget set aside for critical services such as healthcare, education and policing.”
Shivambu said Godongwane provided no direct plan to stabilise the country’s debt in the short or medium term.
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“Rather he completely evaded the fact that they are servicing dollar denominated loans from global financial institutions with more dollar denominated loans, which will undoubtedly increase in expense as our currency depreciates.”
South Africa's economic growth has been projected to peak at 2.1% in 2022 and 1.8% in the medium term.
This also comes at a time where it is unable to create employment for over 40% of the country's youth.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, South Africa has shed close to 2 million jobs.
