PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
What the DA wants to know about huge R370bn Chinese ‘gift’
The Chinese government had promised this multibillion-rand ‘gift’ to SA as some sort of stimulus package, says Alf Lees
The DA says it will submit parliamentary questions to the presidency as well as Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene to establish the full details of the terms and conditions attached to a "gift" of R370bn that President Ramaphosa has apparently "negotiated" with China. DA shadow deputy minister of finance Alf Lees said on Sunday that recent media reports indicated that the Chinese government had promised this multibillion-rand "gift" to SA as some sort of stimulus package. "It would be naive in the extreme to think that this ‘gift’ from the Chinese comes with no strings attached," Lees said. The Chinese modus operandi is to initially offer good terms‚ knowing that more money would be asked for and to then make the terms and conditions more onerous, he said. "Once it cannot pay China what is due‚ the debt-ridden country is forced to give up assets and sovereignty that were included as the terms and conditions got more and more strenuous‚" Lees charged. TimesLIVE
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