The National Budget 2021 did nothing to excite agriculture. Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, delivered the budget in parliament today.<\/p>\n
As expected, there was a strong focus on economic growth. Early on in his speech, the minister said that this budget would create South Africa\u2019s framework to achieve a primary surplus on the budget in 2024\/25 and stabilise debt by 2025\/26.<\/p>\n
\u201cEconomic growth does not happen because someone announced it during a budget speech,\u201d says Mr Henry Geldenhuys, the TLU SA president. \u201cThe government wants to build an economy through government expenditure and grants. Any economy can only grow through processing, production and job creation. The government missed this part of Economy 101.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mboweni admits that the majority of the R2 trillion spending goes towards social services. The government is trying to make as many South Africans as possible dependent on the state, so the ANC controls them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe balance between people receiving grants and those who work and pay taxes is growing bigger,\u201d says Mr Geldenhuys. \u201cIt is a ticking timebomb for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
From an agricultural view \u2013 the industry which must save the country all the time \u2013 the 8% increase in the excise duties on alcohol and tobacco products will hit those producers hard. The combined aspects affecting the production process \u2013 such as higher wages, more expensive power supply and an increase in fuel prices \u2013 increasingly make it more difficult for farmers to show a profit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the increased price of production costs, farmers depend on financing more, but the Land Bank is also on its last legs \u2013 even if the minister budgeted R7 billion for its rescue,\u201d says Mr Geldenhuys. \u201cThe injection will not yield the needed results if the Land Bank does not restructure its management. The bank should be allowed to function according to the principles of banking without the government interfering and forcing an ideological agenda with unrealistic requirements for financing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The R791.2 billion infrastructure investment drive is a highlight but should be seen against the background of corrupt tender processes and inexperience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government should get to a point where it takes hard economic decisions instead of ideological decisions,\u201d concludes Mr Geldenhuys. \u201cAs long as anything other guides the economic direction, the economy will just stumble ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Issued by: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TLU SA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Date:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24 February 2021<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Enquiries:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mr Henry Geldenhuys, President TLU SA, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cell.: 083 560 1273<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Bennie van Zyl, General Manager TLU SA,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cell.: 082 466 4470 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The National Budget 2021 did nothing to excite agriculture. Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, delivered the budget in parliament today. As expected, there was a strong focus on economic growth. Early on in his speech, the minister said that this budget would create South Africa\u2019s framework to achieve a primary surplus on the budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news-english"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n