The much anticipated budget speech for financial year 2014/ 15 was presented to the nation by Finance and Development Planning Minister, Kenneth Matambo on Monday. And as expected, it did not offer anything new for the army of unemployed and poor people.
This is not surprising because the previous budget speeches have failed to protect the most vulnerable subset of Batswana: the impoverished and unemployed.
Just like unemployment, poverty remains a major development challenge across the country despite government intervening with a raft of social programmes such as Ipelegeng and backyard gardening.
While the government continues to tell the nation about its modest policy achievements as rated by international agencies, it seems the reality on the ground tells a different story. Slowly Batswana, particularly civil servants, are growing to view the budget speech as an irrelevant occasion as witnessed by their comments in the media and public spaces.
The government’s responsibility is to ensure that the economy keeps growing, providing more jobs and more money in the pockets of its own people. While the government continues to claim to have improved the quality of life for many citizens, challenges still remain, particularly in the eradication of abject poverty.
In his address, Matambo highlighted that government will continue to provide resources for social welfare programmes such as destitution allowances, school feeding programmes and other measures aimed at the vulnerable groups in society.
But perhaps the minister and the current administration need to be reminded that we cannot afford a situation where a large proportion of the population are cut adrift, adding to the welfare bill and allowing desperately needed talents to lie fallow.
As he correctly puts it, it is important that social welfare programmes are regularly evaluated lest they create a dependency syndrome. It is encouraging to hear that government will remain vigilant about the long term sustainability of funding of social welfare programmes to ensure that they contribute to increased economic activity and benefit the intended target groups.
Therefore, it is Government’s objective that people should graduate from such programmes as they are only meant to provide a basis for improving people’s skills and livelihoods.
This matters not only on grounds of social justice, but also on the economic evidence that the more slender the gap between rich and poor, the more prosperous the society.
Matambo and the government further need to be reminded of some specifics. Prices of commodities are rising twice as fast as wages, the median wage is dropping, public sector unemployment is slowing due to the government’s downsizing program, plus a growth in private sector jobs that offer little advancement and even less employment security ÔÇô all these do not add up to an agenda of hope for many citizens, no matter how determined their aspirations.
We need a budget that aspires to meet the needs of all of our citizens, not just those who are in the high earning notch but also for those who do not have a regular income.
On positive territory though, the government’s decision to consider amendments to some Laws is commendable, particularly with regard to Taxation. The proposed amendment of the Transfer Duty Act will surely encourage homeownership; especially by first-time home owners and the process improve livelihoods. Likewise the broadening of the VAT-exempt list of food is right decision by the Government.
