Deputy Speaker, while Cope acknowledges some of the good news that the Minister of Finance has reported in the National Trade Policy Background Papers, such as a decrease in the deficit, an increase in tax revenues, and especially some of the steps around tender corruption and fraud and so on, the overall view is that this is disappointing. The Minister has continued to follow the same policy continuity that we have seen all along and it begs the question: Where is the new growth path?
In some sense what we heard was really mutton dressed up as lamb. There are good intentions that we really welcome - the view of creating five million new jobs, keeping inflation in check and so on. This continues to be a call of the ruling party but, as the Minister has pointed out, and Cope has stated all along, things like the value of the rand are determined neither by the wishes of Members of Parliament, nor by that of the ruling party. The key issues of investor confidence and promoting and supporting entrepreneurs, especially in small and medium enterprises, were simply paid lip service, and even some of the targets in the so-called new growth path were just smoke and mirrors.
In short, it seems as if it is more of the same and not enough of anything new. The achievements of the past few months in the economy flow off the back of global trends, increased investment into developing countries and the slow, but important global recovery. The government may claim credit for some things, but not for what is happening globally. It must, however, take responsibility for the lack of vision and leadership that seems to characterise it. [Applause.]