EFF demands finance minister repay R2.3m

BUDGET SPEECH FUNDS WASTE

- BONGANI HANS

THE EFF has escalated its criticism towards Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, demanding that he bear the costs associated with the R2.3 million wasted on his ill-fated Budget Speech in February.

The Red Berets MP Omphile Maotwe made the call almost a week after Godongwana and Parliament suffered legal costs after the EFF and the DA took Godongwana to the Western Cape High Court over his first attempt to increase the valued-added tax (VAT).

Maotwe, whose party had called for Godongwana to step down due to the Budget delivery fiasco, described the R2.3m, which was spent preparing for the Budget, as wasteful expenditure.

"All of this was avoidable had the minister simply listened to the millions of South Africans who rejected the VAT increase and demanded an inflationary adjustment to personal income tax to protect workers from bracket creep.

"We will demand that the minister personally pay for this wasteful expenditure, and that it be deducted from his salary," said Maotwe.

Parliament had made all necessary preparations for the Budget to be delivered on February 19 despite calls from various parties, including the DA, to be postponed due to disagreement over the VAT increase.

However, on the day of the event, Godongwana took to the podium as expected, but surprised the nation by announcing the postponement of his speech due to political pressure.

The expenses for the aborted Budget were revealed by Godongwana, who was known for imposing austerity measures in the government, in response to Maotwe's parliamentary questions.

The money was spent on printing documents, catering in Cape Town and Pretoria, translation, a sign language interpreter, a live reads radio station, English and Zulu language podcasts, and editing.