Pravin Gordhan says R100bn lost to state capture could have doubled social grants
Mcebisi Jonas warns that unelected outside forces, not those in government, now hold power in SA
The state could have doubled social grants with the estimated R100bn said to be lost to state capture‚ ANC MP and former finance minister Pravin Gordhan says. Speaking at the Daily Maverick The Gathering event‚ Gordhan said estimates varied, but the figure was close to R100bn. Asked what he could have done with this money as finance minister he said the amount represented about 9% of total government expenditure and could have doubled social grants. "Social grants are about R110bn to R120bn of expenditure‚ we could have doubled them‚" he said. Gordhan said he had been surprised by the scale and the impunity with which state capture happened. His former deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, said the fact that they were in government and did not know the extent of the problem showed those in government "are not holding the power". "Those that run the country are unelected‚" and do not care about the economy and concerned themselves with "personal accumulation instead"‚ he said. Both were critical of...
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