‘Revenue is not manna from heaven’ – Mboweni paints grim picture of economy
National Treasury has painted a grim picture of the state of the country's economy as it battles to keep the country afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
While many South African businesses have resumed economic activity, the national lockdown has left many others with no choice but to close their doors and retrench their staff.
National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) briefed the standing finance committee on their annual strategic plans and budgets.
After crunching the numbers, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said the lack of economic activity has left the country on the verge of an economic meltdown.
“If there’s one thing that this crisis has demonstrated, it’s that revenue is not manna from heaven. Revenue arises from economic activity.
“No economic activity means revenue collection declines and as revenue collection declines it means our ability to fund the many programmes that we want to fund is limited.”
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Mboweni added that changing times must be met with changing strategies.
“The situation has changed, and a changed situation also demands a changed performance system and different performance contract.
“We are in difficult times, challenging times. We can’t take our eyes off the ball. Our performance has to continue to be of a high level.”
Mboweni vowed that the Covid-19 command council would make appropriate recommendations to cabinet on how to restore the economy without risking lives.