Steenhuisen hopeful new Budget will address farmers’ challenges

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader and Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen says he is confident that the budget that is set to be tabled on May 21, will tackle some challenges faced by farmers.

Speaking at the 142nd Bloem Show Carnival in Bloemfontein, Steenhuisen says the country has been struggling with foot-and-mouth disease which has negatively affected livestock farmers.

He alluded that his ministry plans on helping subsistence farmers to become commercial and acquire financing.

Steenhuisen has encouraged the government to cut on unnecessary expenditure.

“So, I’m relatively comfortable with the budget as we’ve seen so far. Obviously, like any other department, we’ve got to look at saving money and cutting costs. So, cutting out on things like dinners and the like. And focusing on the core functions of the department,” says Steenhuisen.

“I think all government departments now, under budget 3.0, will have to look internally and save costs. Overseas travel and internal travel, we need to spend less money on government and more on our core functions and mandates,” adds Steenhuisen.

He says Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget must address how the Government of National Unity (GNU) will ensure economic growth, and fill the gap created by the reversed VAT hike.

Steenhuisen says his party can table a budget that can restore the GNU’s credibility.

“So, what I’ll be looking for in the Budget is growth and how do we get growth going? How do we fill the gap that’s going to be created by the VAT hike that’s now been reversed and how we can fill it out. I believe we have some great ideas on how that can be done. But also, I’m committed to putting out on the table a costed, credible budget that we can get past the house. So, we can start to restore some of the credibility. I think we’ve lost over the last two months as a result of the wrangle over the budget,” adds Steenhuisen.