The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has shared with MPs a range of questions to put to President Cyril Ramaphosa in the forthcoming SONA debate on key concerns, particularly on getting value for money in the state’s more than one-trillion-rand-a-year procurement spending.
The IRR says these are questions the South African public deserves answers to.
According to the Zondo Commission’s report on its investigation of state capture and corruption, maximising value for money in procurement would curtail corruption and capture, “the very deficiencies which are being revealed in yet another commission of inquiry constituted by President Ramaphosa”, the IRR points out.
“By maximising value for money, the state would buy the best-quality goods rather than paying the inflated prices resulting from non-value-adding Black-Economic Empowerment (BEE) premiums. The IRR has codified this recommendation by Chief Justice Zondo in its draft legislation, the Value For Money Bill.
In the run-up to SONA, IRR CEO Dr John Endres wrote to the President urging him to endorse the IRR’s draft Value For Money Bill, and “steer the country back on track by adopting one key policy reform that is capable of effectively and sustainably addressing all of these challenges: value-for-money in procurement”.
The IRR has also written to MPs with questions relating to value for money in procurement to put to the President during the debate.
Says IRR Strategic Engagements Manager Makone Maja: “Having polled South Africans on the issue, the mandate is clear, with seven out of ten respondents expressing support for the value-for-money principle as a popular choice. It is a principle South Africans uphold in their daily lives and desire to see adopted in government where their taxes are currently poorly managed as a result of the value-for-money principle being undermined.”
She adds: “The questions the Institute submitted to MPs reflect the sentiments of more than just the respondents to the survey but millions of South Africans who feel robbed, as the taxes they pay do not correspond with the service delivery they experience.”
One of the key themes in the list of questions is whether or not the President believes South African households are receiving value for money for their taxes.
Other questions dwell on whether the President has a sense of whose money the government spends and, if he agrees with the IRR that it is the taxpayers’, why the government is reckless with such spending, including on licit and illicit BEE premiums. Other questions relate to whether it would not be best to leave this money in the hands of South Africans themselves, given their grave financial burdens.
Says Maja: “One of the reasons value for money is beneficial to taxpayers is that it grants the government an opportunity to reduce the financial burden on households by cutting taxes. Should BEE premiums be eliminated, the state would likely save at least R100 billion a year, thereby enabling it to cut Value-Added Tax from 15% to 11.5%. This would reduce the cost of goods and services, leaving South African households with the option of spending whatever they save on more important things. In fact, support for value for money among survey respondents was stronger when it was linked to the potential for tax cuts.”
Maja concludes: “The SONA debate is not just an opportunity for MPs to hold the President accountable, but also grants them the chance to speak up on the grievances and concerns of the South African people who elected them. As ordinary South Africans, we may never have the chance to put these questions to the President ourselves. However, as public representatives, MPs have a duty to ask them on our behalf.”
The IRR has pointed out that many indicators of Ramaphosa’s term over eight years in office “tell a damning story”.
“Low growth, high unemployment, poor service delivery, corruption, crime and state capture – all the things the President asked South Africans to trust him to fix in his ‘thuma mina’ speech – are still with us.”
In his letter to the President, Endres writes: “Value-for-money procurement is the fastest and fairest way to get South Africa unstuck. It empowers the poorest through better services and lower taxes, strengthens consumers by putting more money in their pockets, restores trust in government, and creates the conditions for job creation, productivity, and sustained economic growth. The only thing standing in the way of this popular pro-growth approach is political will and the strength of leadership to ensure its achievement.”
The Bill, and a petition in its support, can be found here and here.
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