Chairperson, the intergovernmental process of dividing revenue equitably among all spheres of government in order for them to provide basic services and perform their mandate, duties and functions is one that is fraught with dangers and difficulties. In today's slow economic growth period, rising budget deficit, burgeoning public services, high unemployment rate and helter-skelter government spending, there is little margin for error on the side of National Treasury when allocating budgets.
We are underperforming when compared socioeconomically with our emerging market peers and this should give us cause for great concern, as our peers seem to be continuously outpacing us on all fronts in terms of their recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis.
Government largely has itself to blame for our slow economic growth. Through continued reckless and inefficient spending and the increased Public Service wage bill, our Public Service is fast becoming a dependant and a noncontributor to our economic recovery.
Treasury must be fair but ruthless in the allocation of funding and any sign of recklessness or impropriety in spending must immediately be investigated and stemmed. Government spending on consultants, excessive travel and advertising must be curtailed, as stated by our Minister of Finance. In short, the burden of government must be reduced.
The Division Of Revenue Bill must also not only distribute revenue equitably, but do so with the aim of reducing and resolving our many socioeconomic issues, while also addressing the legacy of the predemocratic dispensation of apartheid. Areas in which basic services are deficient and below acceptable standards must receive our greatest priority and attention. The sooner we redress the imbalances in basic service provision, the faster our holistic socioeconomic recovery will be.
In conclusion, we call on government to spend efficiently, as inefficient expenditure only lowers the government multipliers and retards economic growth. Parastatal bailouts only compound this problem and other avenues must be found in which these entities can be recapitalised without squeezing the already stretched taxpayers.
Government must embark on the path of austere, sustainable and efficient spending. Anything less and we will see ourselves moving along a trajectory to greater microeconomic instability from which it will be difficult to recover. I thank you.