DMPE must get government working for the people
15 July 2024
Presiding Officer
Committee Chairperson
Minister and Deputy Minister
When former President Zuma announced the establishment of this department, it gave the impression of a government in a hurry to build a South Africa we can all be proud of. The National Development Plan bolstered the belief that at last the government would move forward in a structured and deliberate way. Sadly, it hasn't been so despite having minister after minister in the portfolio.
Unemployment is worse now than it was in 2008. We spend more on servicing debt than we did a decade ago. Debt service costs is the fastest growing budget item, when this should be investment in South Africa's development.
Honourable Chair, I accept that DPME has to monitor very specific performance metrics on some of the most important projects of the government, but I want to propose to you that the most important consequence is not what the President will do to Ministers, but how the South African people will hold those in power accountable, at the ballot.
South Africans want to know how many more people will be employed each of the next five years.