ANC’s beacon of common sense rejects idea SA becoming “another Venezuela”

At 67, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has acquired the wisdom and maturity a lifetime of curiosity tends to deliver. Thankfully for South Africa, he also possesses humility and resilience. Because right now he needs those qualities in barrels. Gordhan is the beacon of common sense, the voice of moderation in a ruling party which seems to have gone mad. For many South Africans, as long as he remains in office, there is no need to panic despite increasingly the outrageous nationalist and racist agenda followed by other political leaders. Gordhan’s supporters will be encouraged by yesterday’s engagement in Parliament where he scotched the notion SA is on its way to becoming “another Venezuela”. Hopefully his rejection of that socialist nightmare will encourage the less informed compatriots who, amazingly, still hold up Chavez-onomics as the example SA should follow. – Alec Hogg

By Jenni Evans, News24

Cape Town – South Africa will not turn into “another Venezuela”, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in Parliament on Thursday.

“We are miles away from Venezuela. We are a well-managed fiscus,” Gordhan said at the end of a long debate on South Africa’s economy.

Pravin Gordhan, South Africa's finance minister, speaks during an interview in London, U.K., on Thursday, Mar. 4, 2010. Gordhan said he is “disappointed” by the response of developed countries to the government’s plan to seek about $4 billion in loans from the World Bank. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg*** Local Caption *** Pravin Gordhan
Pravin Gordhan, South Africa’s finance minister.

“We will take South Africa forward to much better prospects than anyone in this House can,” he said in reply to

DA MP David Maynier’s warning that South Africa was in danger of floundering like the South American country.

Conditions all over the world were tough and everybody needed to think of ways to make the economy grow, Gordhan said.

He led a debate titled “Building collective action for inclusive growth”, but it was not long into his speech that divisions in the House were laid bare.

Tensions rose when DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen asked that ANC MPs be told to leave quietly. He wondered if they were staging a walkout.

People queue to try to buy basic food items outside a supermarket in Caracas March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
People queue to try to buy basic food items outside a supermarket in Caracas March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo

Before long, any sign of unity crumbled, with ANC MP Lindiwe Zulu being forced to withdraw her loud shouts of ”shut up!” at the DA benches.

Gordhan, in a dark pin-striped suit, waited patiently for the argument to play out.

When the beleaguered finance minister resumed, he said doomsayers and sceptics could not be allowed to determine the country’s fate.

In the meantime, government was doing all it could with business and labour to improve conditions. It hoped to hear in about 10 days what ratings agencies Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s made of the country’s risk profile.

The DA said Gordhan’s real problem was President Jacob Zuma and the “rent seekers” who supported him.

“One man who will stop at nothing to gain control of the National Treasury, even if it means triggering a recession,” said Maynier.

As Gordhan was building collective action against a ratings downgrade, his efforts were being hampered by the government and the ruling party.

Maynier blamed Zuma for an “all-out political assault” on Gordhan, who was under investigation by the Hawks regarding an SA Revenue Service unit that allegedly illegally spied on taxpayers.

He said certain people were trying to grind Gordhan down so they could “get their hands on the cookie jar at National Treasury”.

Young IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa told Gordhan he could count on the party’s support to improve the economy.

“It requires all of us to be politically sober,” he said. – News24

Source: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/sa-wont-end-up-like-venezuela-gordhan-20160526

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