Babe Sihlalo [Chairperson], much has already been said since the Minister announced his Budget and there has been considerable critique of the fiscal framework that has been proposed. There are both positive and not so good aspects to this framework. Whilst there is an encouraging reduction and a predicted deficit of 4,6%, one of the consequences of this is the predicted growth rate of a mere 2,7% as compared to other similar economies where 6,9% is considered poor.
The allocation of R845 billion for the infrastructure build is certainly impressive. The tax incentives for special economic zones are welcomed and have been called for for a long time by the DA.
Unfortunately, the current performance of many Ministries indicates that many of these worthy spends, especially the desperately needed infrastructure spend, are unlikely to be achieved unless there is a radical change in the way business is done.
The past and current performance of Ministries clearly indicates that the good intentions of the Minister of Finance are by and large discounted by the ANC and its alliance partners, particularly Cosatu - we hear very little from the communists, who appear to be more intent on occupying lucrative positions in Parliament and in Cabinet than they are on promoting the mandate of the party. [Interjections.] I digress. We must also include in this category the other Cabinet Ministers and, I dare say it, even the President. This observation is probably best supported by the callous abandonment of the 3,2 million unemployed youths who have been and are being condemned to a life of no opportunities by the nonimplementation of the DA-supported youth wage subsidy. This subsidy was announced by the President some two years ago, but has not been implemented due to the undue influence of Cosatu, who seem to only represent the employed South Africans and from whose hard-earned pay they extract money to invest in new lavish offices, fancy cars and state-of-the-art computers for themselves.
Much of the poverty facing our people can be laid fairly and squarely at the door of generations of colonial and apartheid misrule. However, what is required for South Africa to overcome the enormous challenges of unemployment, and thus of poverty amongst millions of our people, is not to provide a welfare state, but to provide a welfare safety net with our concentration being on the creation of more and more opportunities for all South Africans to enable them to take their destiny into their own hands. To me, it is self-evident that we should be focusing on providing opportunities through the provision of top-quality health care, education and infrastructure, amongst others. It is these opportunities that will enable our people to work themselves out of poverty and become the best they can be.
Of course, we cannot forget the desperate need to deal swiftly and robustly with inefficient and corrupt officials, politicians and other South Africans. The scourge of the ANC's cadre deployment policy has condemned millions of our people to lives of poverty and hardship.
The DA has an alternative for all South Africans that will give them opportunities that they deserve. The cornerstone of this alternative is the achievement of economic growth of no less than 8%. This is possible, and we have the policy that will achieve this growth. Our shadow Minister of finance, the hon Tim Harris, a former member of this House, has released the DA's alternative budget and we will release the DA's 8% growth policy later this year.
Through you to the hon Minister of Finance, we say that, given the government that you find yourself in, we extend our thanks for the effort you made to maintain our fiscal stability. We will support your fiscal framework, but be warned that we will reserve the right to hold you and the Cabinet accountable to all our people if your Cabinet colleagues such as the hon Lindiwe Sisulu, the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, who snubbed Parliament by failing to appear before this House to answer questions in yesterday's sitting, fail to perform as is required to achieve the outcomes contained in the framework.
Inkosi ibusise i-Afrika. [May the Lord bless Africa.]