Chairperson, we recognise the difficulties faced by the Minister in an economy not growing fast enough to create the jobs that we need to address our unemployment crisis. However, Minister, the truth today is that our economic progress has stalled and the reality is that South Africa is facing weak economic growth, with economic growth this year likely to come in at well below 2%.
Hon Chairperson, we believe the reason for this is economic policy incoherence which makes it extremely difficult for Treasury to perform its role in co-ordinating economic policy. Minister, we believe that with these results, the South African economy will face a stark inflation trap as we struggle with persistent high inflation and low economic growth. Minister, the DA is also extremely concerned with regard to the escalation of our debt levels, with debt service costs having been the fastest growing item on the expenditure. This unfortunately clouds out the necessary spending needed to improve service delivery.
As the DA, we are also very concerned that the Treasury has not paid enough attention to the effective management of our public funds by many departments and public entities. Treasury oversight urgently needs to address a significant leakage from the public purse, with consequences for maladministration and corrupt activities. We saw that the Minister has made some commitments in this regard, and we hope that he will give his serious attention to these issues.
We wish the Minister well in his new role in addressing these challenging circumstances. However, with the current growth and incoherent economic policy, we cannot support this budget. I thank you.