The EFF condemns plans to purchase three VVIP jets for President Zuma and his cabinet crowd
6 April 2015
The Economic Freedom Fighters condemns plans by the South African Air Force to purchase 3 VVIP Jets for the President and his crowd of ministers and deputy ministers which will cost taxpayers R2 billion. The EFF condemns this as part of the parasitic, unnecessary and wasteful spending which puts a strain on the fiscal resources of the country.
This is a contradiction following Minister Nhlanhla Nene's budget statement in which he indicated how South Africa needs to cut spending since the fiscal resources are strained. Nene's solution to get more resources to run the country was in the form of raising personal income tax, value added tax, electricity and fuel levies. In essence this R2 billion will be coming from taxes of both the poor and rich South Africans to simply ensure the comfort of President Zuma and his cabinet as opposed to the types of spending that will result in growth and the betterment of the living standards of the poor.
This money could have been invested in higher education tuition fees, particularly following the fact that thousands of students have been sacrificed due to shortages in NFSAS funding this year. Two billion rands could have funded at least 40 000 students at R50 000 fee per annum. Instead of prioritizing the education of a black child, the ANC government would rather spend money on luxurious VVIP Jets for number one.
This is yet another expenditure that demonstrated the ANC government's disregard and disdain for public resources. These are luxury jets in an economy that stands at the brink of stagnation where there is no growth, commodity prices are in a rise and unemployment remains high. The only thing the ANC government knows how to do is take money from citizens and splash it in lavish purchases like these jets or Nkandla without any plan and capacity to lead a decent industrial expansion program that will grow our economy. The EFF will sharply raise this matter in parliament and ensure that the ANC government is held accountable.
Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, April 6 2015
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