Just under two weeks after the State of the Nation Address (SoNA), Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tabled the 2021/22 National Budget in the National Assembly – on February 24.

At nearly half the length – 3 819 words – of the SoNA, it would have taken someone reading at the average adult reading speed of about 300 words a minute just shy of 13 minutes to complete reading the Budget speech.

The Budget speech consisted of 15 headings: Introduction; The Fiscal Framework; Economic Outlook; Progress on Economic Reforms; Medium Term Spending Plans and Job Creation; Debt Outlook; Tax Policy Changes; Division of Revenue; Social Development; African and Regional Economic Policy; Public Procurement and Zero-Based Budgeting; Addressing Corruption; Retirement Fund Reform; Summary of the Presentation on the Fiscal Strategy; and Conclusion and Thanks.

Were there any obvious omissions? Surely, economic growth, or lack thereof, is an omission. So too is government spending.

On economic growth, the Minister stated that “global economic growth is expected to rebound to 5.5% in 2021, before moderating slightly to 4.2% in 2022” and that “the South African economy is expected to rebound by 3.3% this year, following a 7.2% contraction in 2020, and average 1.9% in the outer two years”. Assuming that you have read with comprehension, what have you missed? I contend the words ‘to’ and ‘by’ – “global economic growth is expected to rebound to 5.5% in 2021”, while “the South African economy is expected to rebound by 3.3% this year”. Is the rebound from the contracted 7.2%? If so, then the South African economy will return a negative growth. In comparison, in 2021, the Chinese economy is expected to grow by 8.1%, India’s by 11.5% and sub-Saharan Africa’s by 3.2%. While in 2022 global economic growth of 4.2% is forecast, for South Africa, the projection is for an average of 1.9% in the outer two years. So, effectively, there will be no economic growth for the next two years.

Let’s now turn to the second omission, government spending. In the words of American economist and politician Richard Keith Armey, “Three groups spend other people’s money: children, thieves and politicians. All three need supervision.” Mboweni stressed that the 2021/22 Budget was “not an austerity Budget”, adding that “our R6.2-trillion spending envelope over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework gives expression to the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan” and that “our fastest-growing area of spending is our investment in the future-capital payments”.

A major expenditure item, which should be reconsidered, comprises payments to the Southern African Customs Union, which “have been revised upwards by R1.9-billion in 2022/23 and R15.5-billion in 2023/24 to R137.3-billion over the medium term”.

expenditure, he said: “Government has committed to a R791.2-billion infrastructure investment drive. We are already partnering with the private sector and other players to roll out infrastructure through initiatives such as the blended finance Infrastructure Fund.” But there is a kicker: “However, all these efforts to expand infrastructure will be wasted if the end-user does not pay a cost-reflective tariff for usage.” You have to appreciate the compilers of the speech sneaking in the user charge without calling it that. Why will it be “wasted” when it would have been possible for government not to have imposed a user charge had taxpayers’ money not been “wasted”.

If you need reminding, I refer you to an article published by www.businesstech.co.za in September 2015: ‘This is how much of your money the government is wasting’. Interestingly, the word ‘wasted’ appears only once in the speech.

Even if you are a glass-half-full person, the South African economy is, and remains, in dire straits. To quote the American rock band Bon Jovi, “Whoa, livin' on a prayer.”