Hon Chairperson, it's an understatement to say that we live in uncertain economic times. Across the globe we are still witnessing the aftershocks of the financial earthquake that took place in 2007. Countries in Europe are battling with deficit containment while their economies are still not growing sufficiently.
The United States has just lurched to the right politically, and it seems that their small steps to economic recovery could be derailed through major cuts in government spending. Unfortunately, our future economic success is in some ways determined by the cumulative impacts of these global forces.
Having said this, however, the ID believes that we still have a significant amount of power to determine our own economic destiny. Countries in Asia, along with Brazil, which has demonstrated how to reduce both poverty and inequality simultaneously, prove that it is possible. It is time for us to take up this challenge, and this budget statement goes some way in doing that.
We have enormous challenges, though, such as the R1,5 trillion backlog in infrastructure investment that we have accumulated over the past 10 years. This is manifesting itself in our failing water treatment plants, road infrastructure and, most challengingly, our energy sector.
Minister, we are essentially mortgaging the country to provide collateral for Eskom to build new power stations. The country takes the risk while large energy-intensive users reap the rewards. Surely we should rather be looking at engaging in some risk-sharing arrangements with those companies which are going to benefit from our energy expansion.
Minister, the central crux of our challenge is to find ways of reducing our infrastructural and social deficits while reducing our fiscal deficit at the same time. In meeting this challenge, we are going to have to form concrete partnerships with other actors in our society so as to ensure that in the long run we can grow our economy at much higher rates and generate the sorely needed government revenue to fund these activities. The ID certainly hopes that we can finally get this equation right and that we too can enjoy the economic success that other emerging economies have experienced. I thank you. [Applause.]