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BUDGET SPEECH EXPECTATIONS

15/02/2024 18:25:00 Editor

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Sir,

Allow me to express my expectations from the coming national budget speech. As Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg is expected to deliver his first budget speech after His Majesty King Mswati III officially opened the First Session of the 12th Parliament on Friday, my expectations are very high, especially because the country recorded high Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts.

Reviewed

Free Primary Education (FPE) and the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) funds for schools should be reviewed so that there is no need for top-up fees in some schools. First and foremost, I expect government to subsidise bread. The price for a loaf of bread should not be more than E10. The Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office should be allocated sufficient funds to improve social assistance programmes. Elderly social grants should also be reviewed to at least not less than E1 200 per month and people with disabilities should have their grants reviewed to at least E1 000 per month.

Destroyed

After the heavy rains that have destroyed bridges and damaged roads in some parts of the kingdom, government should revive the Public Works Department and buy new plant, add more staff and deploy them to regional teams that will work on the destructions. Science laboratories, technical and vocational laboratories, consumer science laboratories and computer science laboratories should be built for all schools. I also expect enough scholarships for all qualifying school leavers and more investment in vocational education. More money should be allocated to health so that there will be no shortage of drugs going forward and bagcugcuteli should be paid more. There should also be a budgetary increase for labour inspections to control serious violations of workers’ rights in the workplaces including their health and safety. I also expect a significant increase in civil servants’ salaries so that strikes are avoided; and likewise, students’ scholarships should be disbursed on time for the same reason.