Hon Chairperson, GOOD supports the attempt to get South Africa out of the debt trap but it is time for government to stop talking and start implementing its plans. When implementing, it is critical to consider how we could spend our hard-earned cash better.
We are reassured by the increase of R1,2 billion to the Department of Home Affairs to improve services; of increases to growth-creating infrastructure and of budget cuts that seem to indicate more efficiency in some departments.
But we are concerned by some budget cuts to the Department of Basic Education, Department of Health and the SA Police Service, SAPS. These are very important delivery departments, and we need to mitigate the impact of the cuts on service delivery. We need to ensure that the crime fighting capacity of our police is increased especially to fight gender- based violence. We cannot fix