Finance minister should exit the ring

MINISTER of Finance Enoch Godongwana faced an economic dilemma: How to service a R5.2 trillion government debt and find money to finance a bloated government which cannot oversee a wasteful public service riddled with inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption.

- THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN

Asking his colleagues to tighten their belts and practise fiscal discipline would not only be deemed to be disloyal to the ANC cause, it would also be an arduous route to address the Budget deficit. He had to find an easier route. He would increase VAT by 0.5% this year and another 0.5% the next year and let the money come jingling into the state coffers. But when he presented his delayed 2025 budget on March 12 he found the short-cut block