President Ramaphosa called the Presidency Budget Vote vital for coordination, oversight, and crisis response, despite fierce opposition criticism.
President Cyril Ramaphosa defended the Presidency Budget Vote in parliament, calling it a vital tool for government coordination and oversight amid fierce criticism from opposition parties during the debate.
He was replying to the debate on Budget 1 during a National Assembly hybrid plenary sitting on Thursday afternoon.
Ramaphosa delivered his reply on Thursday following a daylong debate on Wednesday, which came after he tabled the Presidency Budget Vote to the National Assembly.
Ramaphosa defends the Presidency Budget
He described the budget as exceptional, highlighting its focus on coordination, strategic direction, and oversight across all government departments.
The Presidency ensures alignment with national priorities and implements urgent intervention during crises, such as load shedding and Covid-19 challenges.
“A vote in support of this budget is about strengthening the nerve centre of government itself,” Ramaphosa said.
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The president said that one body disagrees that the challenges South Africa faces are immense and that the country is not as far along the road as expected.
“As we journey to the National Dialogue where we will face the hard truths and forge a common brighter future, let us take courage from the words of this young patriot who said yesterday that this budget should be a turning point,” Ramaphosa said.
During Wednesday’s debate, MK party deputy president and member of parliament John Hlophe launched a scathing attack on Ramaphosa in his budget vote speech, calling him “a president broken beyond repair” and accusing him of hypocrisy, secrecy, and a failure to tackle corruption.
Hlophe called president ‘broken beyond repair’
Hlophe criticised the government for abandoning ordinary South Africans struggling with poverty and the rising cost of living. He accused Ramaphosa of shielding political allies instead of holding them accountable.
He also lambasted parliament, saying it had become “a poodle sitting at your feet begging for scraps of patronage”.
The president responded, saying that South Africa faces many challenges, but those shouldn’t overshadow the progress made over the past 31 years. Ramaphosa stated that South Africa’s democracy is still relatively young.
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“Those who decry the allegedly scant progress we have made wish us to discount the millions of homes electrified, the clean water in communities where there was once none, the public housing built for the indigent, and the free basic services provided to society’s most vulnerable,” he said.
Dr Corné Mulder of the Freedom Front Plus said on Wednesday that the party is committed to finding solutions for all South Africans, including the Afrikaner and other minority groups.
He insisted that the time is now to urgently address South Africa’s economic strategy and policies to ensure a successful future for all.
Freedom Front Plus proposals
Ramaphosa said the government will engage critically with the Freedom Front Plus on its proposals.
He discussed the historical context of the Carnegie Report and its influence on the development of apartheid. The president highlighted the disparities in resources devoted to white and black people.
“Honourable Mulder, the huge racial disparities we see in access to wealth and opportunities in South Africa were the consequence of the aid provided by the apartheid state to white people,” Ramaphosa said.
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“This is an important discussion, and we welcome the Freedom Front’s willingness to engage in it.”
The president emphasised the importance of creating a bright future for all South Africans, regardless of race.
On the same day, uMkhonto weSizwe MP Siyabonga Gama condemned the presidency budget as not only economically indefensible but also legally and institutionally corrosive.
Budget is ‘economically indefensible’ – MK’s Gama
“What we are debating here today is not just a budget. It is a financial architecture of a parallel state. A budget that funds insulation, protects inefficiency and advances elite consolidation under the guise of reform,” he said.
Gama said the party was watching the erosion of constitutional accountability.
The president said Gama delivered a somewhat “misguided” view of the collaboration between government and business.
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He acknowledged the private sector’s role in job creation and the need to create an environment that enables new businesses to thrive.
“While the government’s role is, in part, to create an enabling environment for job creation and new businesses to thrive, the private sector is a critical driver of job creation,” Ramaphosa said.
EFF member of parliament Nontando Nolutshungu said on Wednesday that the party rejected the budget because it is “rotten from the head”, and she further criticised the process of inquiry, calling it a waste of money and time.
Criticism of commissions of inquiry
The president responded and said the presidency has the power to establish commissions of inquiry into matters of public concern, as demonstrated by the revitalisation of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the recovery of seized assets.
“I said yesterday, and I will repeat again today, as a country committed to the rule of law, to procedural fairness and to transparency, we will ensure that the allegations made around corruption in the upper echelons of the South African Police Service will be fully ventilated in the commission of inquiry process,” he said.
Watch the Presidency reply here: