Budget 2017
POLITICS: Carefully walking a tightrope — but also sounding a warning
This is how it works here. Sometime relatively early every February, the president gives a state of the nation address. Effectively it is the opening of parliament in the new calendar year. The president uses the address to declare things. This time it was the Year of Radical Social & Economic Transformation. By way of comparison, for instance, 2011 was the Year of Job Creation. Then, a few weeks later in February, the finance minister delivers the national budget for that year. In it, he is supposed to not so much echo the president but to give some substance to what the president said, to make the president’s speech sound not only reasonable and thoughtful, but affordable too. Any alien listening to finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget would have thought he had done a pretty good job. He twice mentioned the word "radical". Here was one of them: "...President [Jacob] Zuma articulated this in the state of the nation address, rightly emphasising the radical nature of the socioeco...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.