Gondongwana is in a better position than Mboweni was – NWU economist on mini budget

Expectations are such that Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana’s maiden Medium Term Budget Policy Statement since being shuffled into the role that was previously occupied by Tito Mboweni, will be positive and upbeat. This is according to North West University (NWU) Economics professor, Waldo Krugell, who was sharing his predictions pertaining to Godongwana’s mini-budget on the OFM Business Hour. Krugell says Godongwana is in a better position than his predecessor, Mboweni was when he tabled his budget in February 2021. Not only has the economy grown faster, but higher commodity prices have also bode well for South Africa. Krugell says ordinary citizens especially those on the lower end of the income scale will be looking out for assistance from the government via grants etc.

There is some expectation that Godongwana will weigh in on the issues affecting Eskom at present. This as Eskom Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andre De Ruyter on Wednesday likened the power utility to a car that needs to be replaced not fixed. De Ruyter has blamed endless red tape as one of the reasons that is making maintenance at the utility challenging. “Current procurement methodology is not well suited to the running of large complex industrial enterprises like Eskom”. He has also criticized municipalities who are not playing their role in implementing load shedding at local government level. This has exacerbated the utility’s plethora of issues which include financial limitations.

OFM News