Hon Chairperson and hon members, I will start by stressing that the UDM supports this Bill. We are fully cognisant of the fact that the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement was delivered at a time when South Africa's economic growth outlook was moderated by a number of global risks. The eurozone crisis and its impact on our current account due to the falling demand for our exports and the economic hardships confronting the industrialised countries, all taken together, caused the economic growth outlook to deteriorate significantly, thereby negatively affecting government revenue.
Government is operating in an environment in which there are declining revenues and ever-increasing demands for government not only to spend the economy out of recession, as the Keynesians maintain, but also to meet its unsustainable expenditure on social security.
These issues put an increasing amount of pressure on the Finance Minister to walk the talk in the fight against corruption and maladministration, and in improving overall government efficiency. Giving citizens value for their money must be foremost in everyone's mind.
While we sometimes scream in ululation when the Minister manages to keep a healthy fiscal framework under very challenging economic circumstances, our excitement is usually interrupted by reports that unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure runs into millions of rand every year. It is also cut short by reports that government departments wastefully spent over R5 billion on catering and entertainment in the past year. It is also rudely disrupted by the ever-ballooning public sector wage bill, as the hon Koornhof said, which continues to skyrocket, and by the fact that this remuneration is not commensurate with the public sector workers' responsibilities.
Bizarrely, this public sector wage bill continues to increase rapidly while service delivery is at an all-time low. We, however, welcome the establishment of the Municipal Support Infrastructure Agency, which should help struggling municipalities, especially those in rural areas, to improve the quality of their infrastructure service delivery, and therefore the quality of life of previously disadvantaged communities.
We also welcome government's renewed focus on trade in Africa, considering the eurozone crisis. South Africa has played an important role in exporting the principles of peace and good governance to Africa, but has not always taken full advantage of the economic opportunities on the continent. We once more call on the Minister to root out corruption and wasteful expenditure in every sphere of government. Thank you, hon Chairperson. [Time expired.]