Ramaphosa says budget speech postponement 'unfortunate', but all's good in the GNU

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa says the last-minute postponement of the budget last week was “unfortunate”, but says everything is still good in the Government of National Unity (GNU).

He said Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana being forced to delay presenting the budget in parliament gave rise to “concern and uncertainty among South Africans, investors and the financial markets” alike.

He said it’s these sectors in society who look to the budget for “important signals about the state and direction” of the country’s economy.

Ramaphosa continued the Public Relations campaign following the unprecedented postponement of the budget in his latest newsletter released on Monday.

Ramaphosa wrote that the budget reflects the government’s choices and priorities for the country’s development saying “decisions on how to spend public funds have implications for every South African”.

He said it was therefore essential that the concerns raised by different parties around the budget were properly addressed, “in the interests of accountability, transparency and consensus-building”.

Ramaphosa said this was the first time that the budget was being presented by the GNU adding that it’s “understandable” that this new political arrangement requires a different approach.

“The process of forging agreement among the political parties in the GNU is still a work in progress, but we are certainly getting there,” wrote Ramaphosa.

He said the decision to postpone the budget speech and to continue discussions should reassure South Africans that despite differences of opinion, the GNU was “pulling in the same direction”.

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