ANC: Plan won't bankrupt SA
2008-12-01 22:30
Johannesburg - The ANC said on Monday it would exercise fiscal discipline as it increased spending to lift millions of people out of poverty and create jobs for the roughly one-quarter of workers who are unemployed.
Investors are worried that the African National Congress will tilt to the left after next year's general elections, discarding the pro-business policies that have been credited with spurring a decade-long boom in the country.
Zuma, the frontrunner to become president in 2009, favours a greater state role in the economy, though he and other ANC leaders have repeatedly said the party will continue with its pro-growth policies.
"I can assure you that the ANC has no intention of bankrupting the coffers of the South African people," Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said in a news conference, according to Sapa.
Bolder goals
Radebe, who was speaking after he and other party officials met this past weekend to discuss the party's manifesto for the election, expected in March, said the "bolder goals" of the party's programme already had been priced in and budgeted.
Mbeki, a pro-business centrist and bitter rival of Zuma, was ousted by the ANC in September over allegations that he had tried to use a corruption case to derail Zuma's political ambitions. The former president denies the charge.
Now under the sway of the left-leaning Zuma, the ANC has set out a five-year spending plan to reduce poverty and increase employment, primarily through expanding infrastructure development and extending pensions and child support grants.
A plan to raise the number of families that are eligible for child support grants could add R10bn to the government's R100bn social welfare budget, the Sunday Times reported.
Concerns
Despite assurances that the government can afford the spending spree, there are concerns in the business community and among analysts over its prudence, given the slowdown in South Africa's economy and the global financial crisis.
When asked if the ANC was considering raising taxes, Radebe said it was a matter for the Treasury department.
He said the ANC would commit itself to widening a land redistribution programme, which aims to transfer 30% of commercial farmland to the black majority by 2014, and expand the current black economic empowerment (BEE) policy.
"We have no intention as the ANC to change this policy, rather we would want to expand the policy to benefit more of our people," Radebe said.
The election manifesto will be finalised by December 12 and launched in January.