Climate change compounding problem of poverty in SA, says Minister Godongwana

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has warned that South Africa faces difficult times ahead.

Godongwana said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, both at home and abroad, had made it harder to deal with South Africa’s triple challenge of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.

He said climate change and conflict, domestically and globally, is compounding the problem.

Godongwana tabled the National Treasury’s budget at Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.

He said while South Africa’s financial position had improved somewhat compared to this time last year, this was no time for complacency.

“We have many hard choices to make. Many more difficult decisions lie ahead of us. We are not out of the woods. We cannot afford to be complacent.”

He said 43 municipalities need to be placed under intervention and defended the decision to put black-owned Ubank under curatorship with effect from 16 May.

“Curatorship is a mechanism to provide regulators with additional tools to save the bank and not to close it, and as such, curatorship will assist in preserving depositors’ funds that are held by the institution and will allow for its resolution to be done in a structured and controlled manner.”

-EWN

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