Minister Creecy tables budget before parliament
Some were more controversial than others after the DA said it would boycott the budgets of at least two departments presided over by compromised minister.
It's the final leg of the national budget process because the Appropriation Bill can only be passed if all departmental votes have been agreed to.
One of the less controversial budget vote was for transport – although opposition parties criticised none the less.
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TimesLIVE
2 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
You should have withdrawn from GNU: Mbeki's open letter to Steenhuisen
Former president Thabo Mbeki has penned a scathing open letter to DA leader John Steenhuisen, saying he would have found it logical for the DA to withdraw from the GNU. Mbeki labelled Steenhuisen and DA federal council chair Helen Zille 'arrogant' after the party's decision to pull out of the national dialogue. In the 11-page letter, Mbeki said it was clear that the DA had serious problems with President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC concerning the functioning of the GNU after Ramaphosa removed deputy minister of trade, industry and competition Andrew Whitfield of the DA. 'It is also obvious that despite this you and the DA decided that you will not withdraw from the GNU and it is established that instead with the final straw ... you and the DA have decided not to participate in the national dialogue,' he said. Mbeki criticised Zille's statements that the dialogue was an ANC campaign strategy. He said the dialogue had absolutely nothing to do with Zille's 'fertile imagination of an ANC's 2026 election campaign, or what you called an ANC-run national dialogue'. 'And as you know, Zille, and therefore presumably the DA's view, is that the absence of the latter from the 'Parliament of the People' will make the Parliament 'a sham' and 'a hollow exercise'. It is very good that, at last, Zille has openly expressed her eminently arrogant and contemptuous view of the masses of the people, that these cannot think and plan their future correctly, without the DA. 'That, presumably, is also the view of the federal leader of the DA who must have felt very proud when he announced that effective immediately, the DA will therefore 'have no further part in this process. We will also actively mobilise against it.' I hope that in time the DA will explain to the people why it signed up to the commitment in the statement of intent of the parties in the GNU that parties commit to an all-inclusive national dialogue process, whereas, as Zille said, she had been very opposed to it from the start.' Mbeki said he would like to assure Steenhuisen that representatives of South Africans would attend the dialogue, adding that he was confident the dialogue would make historic and seminal contribution to the efforts to chart a way forward for the country. 'I sincerely hope that all political leaders and the parties they lead will recognise the inalienable reality that the people are our country's sovereign authority ... As I have said I have no doubt that the DA acts against its own direct interests when it decides to isolate itself from its sovereign authority when the latter decides to engage in a national dialogue to determine our countries (sic) future,' he said. He said the national dialogue was borne (sic) out of a 2016 agreement by the FW de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, Helen Suzman, Desmond and Leah Tutu, Kgalema Motlanthe and Robert Sobukwe foundations who formed the National Foundations Dialogue Initiative with the dialogue as one of its objectives. He said while the ANC had agreed to a national dialogue, he advised the party that civil society would not agree to participate in the process led by the ANC and the GNU, proposing that instead the matter should be led by foundations. Ramaphosa then constituted a group of 4/5 people to engage the foundations, he said. He added that the national dialogue preparatory task team, made up of Nedlac executives, the foundations and four presidency officials, will cease to exist after it hands over the reins to the national convention in August. Mbeki said the ministry of finance should provide the funds necessary to hold the dialogue over and above donations from interested parties. 'In fact, the costs of the preparations to date have been borne by the foundations themselves while the day-to-day work relating to the national dialogue has been carried out by volunteers who are committed to building a better South Africa. These are men and women who are ready to lead the way in ensuring that citizens claim their agency,' he said. He said that the preparatory team believed that various matters would arise during the dialogue which will require action from government without having to wait for the dialogue's conclusion. This, he said, was why Ramaphosa appointed an interministerial committee to be on standby to act on those matters. 'It would seem to me that the DA is also saying that the people have forfeited the confidence to the DA. Perhaps the DA ... should distribute leaflets along the Nelson Mandela Boulevard in Cape Town telling the people that they should redouble their efforts to win back the confidence of the DA or face dissolution,' he said.
IOL News
3 hours ago
- IOL News
Nobuhle Nkabane stands firm against opposition criticism of higher education budget
Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane says she will not dignify direct attacks at her other than focus on the task at hand of serving the people of South Africa. Image: Facebook Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane on Thursday said she would not dignify the attacks levelled against her when the DA and some opposition parties rejected her department's budget. Nkabane presented her department's budget for the 2025/26 financial year in the National Assembly two days after doing so in the National Council of Provinces, where the DA, MK Party, and the EFF rejected it. The department has been allocated R142.4 billion and is set to increase at an average annual rate of 4.4% to R150 billion in the next financial year and R158 billion in 2027/28. 'This growth is not sufficient to meet growing demands for additional resources,' she said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges have been allocated R14 billion, and both the Sector Education and Training Authorities and the National Skills Fund have a combined R26 billion. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is allocated R48.7 billion, and its allocation will increase to R51 billion next year and R53.4 billion in 2027. Nkabane said the allocation was not sufficient to meet the growing demand for access to higher education. 'We continue to seek efficient ways of allocating limited resources to ensure that no deserving learner is left behind.' She also said NSFAS remained committed to implementing a comprehensive student funding model for higher education to address the needs of the 'missing middle'. 'The National Skills Fund has set aside R3 billion over a three-year period.' Nkabane said the allocation for university education increased from R91.7 billion to R96 billion, with a R1.4 billion deficit on the universities' budget. 'We continue to work with National Treasury to find a sustainable adjustment to the universities' budget,' she said. Tebogo Letsie, ANC MP and chairperson of the Higher Education Portfolio Committee, said they would ensure that the department, NSFAS, and universities were accountable. 'We will ensure public resources are used efficiently, effectively, and transparently to deliver the ANC vision,' he said. Letsie took a swipe at the DA for its stance to reject the department's budget because they don't believe Nkabane should be the minister. 'When you vote in 2026, remember them, they will be saying your poor child must not go to school and university because they have a problem with the minister,' he added. MK Party MP Mnqobi Msezane said they rejected the budget because they don't have confidence in the Ministry and Director-General Nkosinathi Sishi, who they claimed faced allegations of gross misconduct, fraud, and corruption, and was not suspended or investigated by Nkabane. 'We don't have confidence in the Ministry and the department to oversee this budget,' Msezane said. DA MP Matlhodi Maseko said the higher education system was being systematically eroded by incompetence, deception, and the unchecked abuse of power in the system. 'The minister has repeatedly given conflicting representations to this House,' she said in reference to the SETA boards' chairperson appointment scandal and listed other challenges in the department under Nkabane's watch. Maseko said President Cyril Ramaphosa should remove Nkabane without delay. 'The future of our youth depends on strong, ethical, caring leadership, and until there is accountability at the very top, every rand in this budget will be another drop in a leaking bucket,' she said. EFF's Sihle Lonzi accused the DA of cherry picking which budget to support and also criticised it for discovering corruption in the department after former deputy minister Andrew Whitfield was fired from the executive. However, Lonzi said his party would not support the budget after presenting a seven-point plan to rescue the department. 'We have no certainty that the R142 billion is going to be used correctly,' he said.
The Citizen
3 hours ago
- The Citizen
Allowing GNU to dictate foreign policy is ‘micro-management'
Minister Ronald Lamola said he is following his commitment to the Constitution of South Africa by implementing foreign policy objectives. South Africa's foreign policy is dictated by several existing frameworks and not the whims of parties within the government of national unity (GNU). This was the sentiment relayed by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola in the build-up to his department's budget speech on Thursday. GNU members have been critical of South Africa's stance on international issues, accusing the ANC of inserting its own bias into foreign relations. 'Follow procedure' A Freedom Front Plus (FF+) delegation this week returned from the United States, and a DA parliamentarian earlier this year called for an overhaul of the nation's foreign policy. Lamola stressed that his department's work was bound by the African Union's Agenda 2063, South Africa's framework document on national interest, the Foreign Services Act, and the Constitution of South Africa. He stated that the ANC, as the previous majority leader in parliament, followed all required paths of participation and consultation in formulating and enacting the current policies. The minister urged any parliamentarian or party that wished to change the mandate of his department to follow parliamentary procedure. 'If there is any GNU partner that wants a review or consultation on the foreign policy, they can initiate the process,' said Lamola. 'We are implementing the policy perspective of the South African government, so there is no basis for anyone to complain because we are not out of line,' he explained. GNU opposition FF+ leader Corner Mulder earlier this week called President Cyril Ramaphosa's meeting with US President Donald Trump a 'failure', saying their visit had a different tone to the star-studded visit in May. Mulder said his delegation was told that in order to better diplomatic ties with the US, the ANC needed to denounce the 'kill the boer' chant. Additionally, farm attacks needed to be declared a priority crime, land expropriation without compensation must be scrapped, and US companies must be exempt from employment equity laws. In the same month as Ramaphosa's visit, DA spokesperson on International Relations Emma Powell called for a 'consensus-based' review of how South Africa portrayed itself on the international stage. 'In light of the critical need to grow our economy and create jobs, South Africa's foreign policy must now be driven by an unwavering commitment to our country's domestic growth, rather than being dictated by the ANC's historical and fraternal allegiances,' Powell stated. 'Micro-management' Lamola said they would not promote policy positions put forward by GNU members simply because they had earned a seat at the collective governance table. 'There is no political party that, just on the basis that they are a member of the GNU, can impose its policies on South Africans. 'It's shocking that they would want us to implement what is not in the law, but implement what [they] themselves as political parties want us to do. That is not in the interest of South Africans,' Lamola said. He added that all GNU members had agreed to uphold the Constitution of South Africa and existing policies, and that allowing any one member to dictate policy changes would be against the spirit of the GNU's statement of intent. 'It's not practically possible, but that also becomes micro-management. In all our international platforms we go to, we seek a mandate from Cabinet [first].' US participation in G20 Lamola was asked about the US' participation in the G20 summit to be held in Johannesburg in November, with the minister urging US officials to play a constructive role in the gathering. He said the G20 was a consensus-based organisation and that the US had a pivotal role in shaping the G20's policies. 'It is important they make contributions towards the outcomes document…and work towards a consolidated final declaration,' 'It would be great if the US participates so that the outcome is embraced by all member countries,' said Lamola. NOW READ: FF Plus claims White House officials want ANC to publicly denounce 'Kill the Boer' chant
