BUDGET SPEECH REACTION

[3000 BC]

sO, let's ponder that speech then peoples....

THIS IS WHAT HAS SURFACED THUS FAR:

APPARENT PROGRESS IN MACRO-ECONOMICS

SOCIAL SECURITY:

. SOCIAL GRANTS UP BY 10 RAND ?
. GRANTS FOR CHILDREN UP TO 15 YRS OLD IN 2009


238 BILLION RAND FOR HEALTH & EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS

10 PERCENT SALARY INCREASES FOR NURSES

EDUCATION UP BY 30 PER CENT

CRIME - 40 NEW POLICE STATIONS + PLUS 10 BILLION FOR CRIME

INFRASTRUCURE

HOUSING, WATER & TRANSPORT GET 17 BILLION RAND

ESKOM GETS 343 BILLION RANDS

1.3 BILLION RAND TO AID DEVELOPMENT IN THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

FUEL INCREASES 11 CENTS PER LITRE

 

[The Mighty Loks]

CRIME - 40 NEW POLICE STATIONS + PLUS 10 BILLION FOR CRIME

The problem is not that theren't enough police, they are just corrupt and employing more corrupt police will only add to the problem.
Must say I'm very disappointed at the nurses increase 10% of nothing is still nothing..
ps. any word on the alcohol and cigarettes price increase?

[The Mighty Loks]

CRIME - 40 NEW POLICE STATIONS + PLUS 10 BILLION FOR CRIME

The problem is not that theren't enough police, they are just corrupt and employing more corrupt police will only add to the problem.
Must say I'm very disappointed at the nurses increase 10% of nothing is still nothing..
ps. any word on the alcohol and cigarettes price increase?
by the way, if you wanna calculate how much of your hard earned money Trevor will be taking away.

http://www.fin24.com/personal_finance/Calculators/Tax.aspx

[thought...]

soooo, social grants are up by a mere 10bucks, which is just enough to buy only 1 loaf of bread, yet eskom gets a mind-f***ing 343 billion of tax payer's loot. talk about giving a brat for a child  time out and giving them there way anyway.

[3000 BC]

CRIME - 40 NEW POLICE STATIONS + PLUS 10 BILLION FOR CRIME

ps. any word on the alcohol and cigarettes price increase?

cigarettes & alcohol rocket - must say i did expect that though...hopefully this should help with my filthy nicotene habit!

[The Mighty Loks]

CRIME - 40 NEW POLICE STATIONS + PLUS 10 BILLION FOR CRIME

ps. any word on the alcohol and cigarettes price increase?

cigarettes & alcohol rocket - must say i did expect that though...hopefully this should help with my filthy nicotene habit!

SHOOO thank god giggle twig is illegal.

[churchofthe latterdayLatte]

baby-momma grants- f*** giving these peops cash to get their hurr did at my expense...Food Stamp those peops! Time for trev to hand out some o dat Gub'ment cheese!


....and on another note....f*** job creation...how about some taxpayer creation...too few Safricans are carrying the load/eligible to pay tax. Get more people reaching the tax bar man. Time for more of us to know what it feels like for someone to be budgeting in his 12th wife on your paycheck...and what it means when a fool vandalises public amenities that trev be reaching in my pocket to pay for.

[The Mighty Loks]

baby-momma grants- f*** giving these peops cash to get their hurr did at my expense...Food Stamp those peops! Time for trev to hand out some o dat Gub'ment cheese!

True that...

[Just Dee]

soooo, social grants are up by a mere 10bucks, which is just enough to buy only 1 loaf of bread, yet eskom gets a mind-f***ing 343 billion of tax payer's loot. talk about giving a brat for a child  time out and giving them there way anyway.

I think there's a wrong interpretation somewhere either it's me or it's the original poster (or their source). And the child support grant will increase by R20, R10 in April and the other R10 in October which translate to 10% annual increase. Now ask all the working folk on this site how much increase they will get this year...

after reading the budget speech I gathered that Eskom will only get R60billion from Trevor... here are the excerpts from his speech regarding Eskom

Over the next five years Eskom’s capital expansion plans will amount to R343 billion, with about 73 per cent earmarked for power generation projects. The return-to-service of previously mothballed power-stations, Camden, Grootvlei and Komati, will add a combined 3 677MW of generating capacity by 2011 and other smaller projects will produce about 2 000 MW. Two major new coal-fired plants, Medupi in Lephalale and Bravo near Witbank, will each cost in excess of R80 billion and produce about 4 500 MW each. To improve transmission capacity, Eskom is strengthening the Cape grid, and building new lines from Majuba to KwaZulu-Natal.

Financial support for Eskom

At this point, Madam Speaker, let me now clarify the role of the fiscus in relation to Eskom’s financing requirements.

Eskom was initially structured as a non-profit utility to be financed entirely by debt. For the first seven years after it was formed in 1923, it was capitalised by government advances totalling £8 million, subsequently converted into treasury loans with terms of up to 40 years. The framework has changed since 2001 – Eskom is now a corporation owned by the state, and its tariffs are subject to oversight by an independent regulator. But the underlying principle throughout Eskom’s history has been that electricity users should bear the costs of its supply, with capital financed through retained earnings and debt on market-related terms. Our public expenditure on electrification has been explicitly targeted at subsidising the extension of supply to low-income consumers, and not at providing finance for the utility itself.

Now that Eskom once again has a major investment programme to finance, its capital should again mainly be raised through debt, and paid for by users over the course of time through appropriately structured tariffs.

However, Eskom’s tariffs were steadily reduced in real terms during the 1980s and 1990s, so that electricity prices in South Africa are now far lower than in any other comparable country, and well below full economic cost. The tariff structure is now too low to support the required borrowing.

Over the next few years, while new power stations are being built and tariffs are steadily increased and revised to encourage efficient electricity use, Eskom’s balance sheet will be under some stress. It is therefore proposed that up to R60 billion should be provided to support the financing of Eskom’s investment programme, on terms structured to a**ist in meeting cashflow requirements. Madam Speaker, the House should record and the nation needs to know that this is not a grant. The return on an investment in power generation is very long term, and the repayment of debt must be similarly deferred. But we would not be supporting these investments if we were not confident that they are economically and financially viable. The amount of R60 billion will be required over the next five years, and we anticipate that about R20 billion will be drawn over the MTEF period ahead. This is provided for in the contingency reserve.

in the top quote Trevor outlines Eskom's needs/plans then on the second he explains the Treasury's relationship with Eskom and how they will help.

[Blizzard]

the whole budget speech thing is just a brilliant PR exercise for the gov, everyone gives props to the government ( opposition parties, media, economists etc) but its the same government that has failed in service delivery. The budget is based on the government/ANC economic policies that have made the rich more richer and the poor more poorer ( I know its sound trite but its the truth). We need to see the bigger picture, make connections between the budget speech and the ruling partys' economic policies. If u think i'm talking kak, ask yourself this- why there is less money allocated to public services ( 238 billion rand for health& education, 17 billion on water, transport and housing BUT ESKOM is getting 343 billion rand?) why less public spending? No nigga its not just because of the enegry crisis but because there is huge profit to be made!!!

[3000 BC]

soooo, social grants are up by a mere 10bucks, which is just enough to buy only 1 loaf of bread, yet eskom gets a mind-f***ing 343 billion of tax payer's loot. talk about giving a brat for a child  time out and giving them there way anyway.

I think there's a wrong interpretation somewhere either it's me or it's the original poster (or their source). And the child support grant will increase by R20, R10 in April and the other R10 in October which translate to 10% annual increase. Now ask all the working folk on this site how much increase they will get this year...

after reading the budget speech I gathered that Eskom will only get R60billion from Trevor... here are the excerpts from his speech regarding Eskom

[

yep...you're right, i got the Eskom figures totally wrong! It's apparetly a bit over 60 billion rand, and the minister swears it's NOT a grant!

[Nar8iv]

The old adage of "give a man a fish & he eats for a day.teach him how to fish  & he feeds himself" ( or something like that), applies

I have very little sympathy for people who get social grants , besides the elderly & those who are disabled & have no other way of providing for themselves & families thru extreme circumstances.

Government encourages an attitude of entitlement & a culture of dependancy by giving handouts.

I feel that this money could be better spent on funding the SETAS , Job creation , training & skills so that people become capable of fending for themselves instead of having ten children to dummy the system & get free money.(one example only of how the system is being abused)

[Blizzard]

60 or 343 billion, the fact remains, Eskom is getting more money than public services ( water, housing and transport).

@ WIS- yes there are peopl who are abusing the system but at the same how do you put food on the table when you dont have a job, no education, no skill to offer and you sharing a 1 room shack with your extended family?

[The Mighty Loks]

@ WIS- yes there are peopl who are abusing the system but at the same how do you put food on the table when you dont have a job, no education, no skill to offer and you sharing a 1 room shack with your extended family?

I think WIS was referring to the 20 something year olds who go out their and impregnate themselves for social grants. Those are the people who abuse the system. 

[blaqsouljah]

60 or 343 billion, the fact remains, Eskom is getting more money than public services ( water, housing and transport).

@ WIS- yes there are peopl who are abusing the system but at the same how do you put food on the table when you dont have a job, no education, no skill to offer and you sharing a 1 room shack with your extended family?

tornado, i think you get this completely wrong. it is a known fact that none of these services can be delivered without adequate power. development of the state hinges on the capacity and ability of its power utility.

i also do not agree with me paying some heffer for having a dozen kids when i don't care for having one myself. that is just f***ed up. if you cannot afford to put food on the table because of unemployment, and you happen to live in a shack - then stop having kids. it's that simple. any form of social grant, except for the elderly and disabled, should be scrapped. these grants have the best intentions but never work as they should - look at the dole. was a brilliant idea - but the consequences were not good. even the grant they give to abbos in australia - that is way above minimum wage and the abbos live off it well and feel little need, for the most part, to do anything else with their lives. i say give them food stamps and gov. cheese as earlier suggested.