People's Assembly
The Border Kei Chamber of Business says the government needs to make some key critical decisions to enable the country's economy to recover.
Executive Director Lizelle Maurice was speaking ahead of the medium-term budget policy statement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday.
She said the government first needed to account for the money spent, and thereafter be more intentional about investing in available resources that would pay off in the long run.
These include investments in sporting facilities, agricultural training programmes, education that is in line with the changing times, and the safety and security of citizens.
"Investing in agriculture, particularly in the Eastern Cape, and being intentional about training programmes in the agricultural space means we could grow our own food, import less, thus bringing our food prices down," Maurice said.
She also specifically identified the export of manganese as an area where local beneficiation could lead to job creation in the battery-manufacturing sector amid the global growth of electric vehicles.
"That would create more permanent jobs than what exporting does for our economy," she said.
Meanwhile, Business Unity South Africa said the Finance Minister needed to outline clear measures to curtail expenditure and to ensure that available funds would be spent efficiently.
CEO, Cas Coovadia, said the medium-term budget must also include "deep and substantial cuts in spending on non-essential and non-productive programmes, adding that the government needed to shelve "unfunded prestige projects and link future public sector wage increases to inflation."
He said these measures must have the support of the rest of the Cabinet, which must speak with one voice to boost public confidence in the government's commitment to responsible management of the economy.
