#CutTheFat: ActionSA reveals plan to save R23 billion to fund National Vaccination Programme
23 February 2021
Yesterday, ActionSA revealed that Minister Tito Mboweni’s will likely table a massive increase in taxpayer funding for political parties this week. This despite the President’s admission that government doesn’t have the funds to assist families facing COVID-19 induced economic hardship, and with Treasury mooting raising taxes to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine.
As ActionSA, we reject any notion of raising taxes while President Ramaphosa’s government continues to squander billions on wasteful expenditure and turns a blind eye to the looting of state resources under the guise of ‘emergency procurement’ or ‘economic transformation’.
ActionSA can now reveal our plan to cut over R23 billion from non-strategic expenditure, more than enough to fund a national vaccination programme without raising taxes. This stems from our analysis of last year’s budget, together with the submissions of over 22,000 South Africans who participated in our #CutTheFat campaign that sought to give citizens an opportunity to share their views on the national budget. The figure of R23 billion is made up as follows:
R235 million from the reduction of Cabinet by getting rid of all Deputy Ministers, their support staff and other benefits. Deputy Ministers add no value to Cabinet and serve only as a tool of ANC patronage.