Date: 25/03/2010
Source: The African National Congress
Title: ANC: Skwatsha: Speaking notes by ANC member of Western Cape Provincial Legislature in the debate on the Treasury budget vote, Provincial Legislature

1. The ANC rises to support this budget vote, We pay tribute to the Provincial Treasury, led by Dr JC Stegman.

2. Treasury has managed the budget under extremely trying circumstances, balancing harsh global economic realities and an extremely pressured financial envelope.

3. Treasury does not deserve the kind of brazen spin employed by the Honourable Premier with her constant distortions that the DA inherited a government in financial meltdown.

4. The Auditor-General's Report and the resolutions of committees on the Annual Reports - committees chaired by DA members - expose the Honourable Premier's distortions.

5. With the exception of Transport and Public Works (Vote 10), where the ANC government took measures to correct the situation, the government that the Honourable Premier inherited was in rigorous good health.

6. The DA is good at bluffing, and the media seems to find it all very believable. But the truth often tells other stories. Take the headline in the Argus after the budget speech: R21 Billion Saving. People in the know, know that this is not a new saving, but one implemented by the ANC government in 2009/2010. We said we would save R308m in 2009/2010, R571m in 2010/2011, R611m in 2011/2012 and R670m in 2012/2013.

7. It is a no-brainer that the ANC supports cost-cutting measures. There is no alternative in a time of recession, shrinking budgets and massive inequality. This is something that centuries of history has taught us, something that gave Marie Antoinette a real pain in the neck. Let us not pretend that it is a DA invention, or a new policy, and that Billions of Rands will be saved through cutting down on sweets and snacks.

8. The ANC says when we cut costs we must do so with care, in the realisation that cost-cutting will not bridge the racial divide in the province, will not lessen the inequalities or create jobs, will not deal with violence against women and children. When the DA cuts funding to non-profit organisations - their lifeblood - they must realise that they are cutting relationships between the government and the people.

9. In government or opposition, the ANC will continue to represent the underdogs in society, the poor, the battered, the marginalised and the sick. We will not be deterred by half-truths, true lies and shameless spin.