The president is expected to address the two houses of Parliament at 2pm.
JOHANNESBURG – With just over two hours to go until President Cyril Ramaphosa unveils government’s plan to revitalise the economy, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (Dtic) believes South Africa has both the potential and the capability to pull the country out of its financial crisis.
Ramaphosa is expected to address the two houses of Parliament at 2pm.
The president already acknowledged that extraordinary measures were required to ensure a speedy and sustainable economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic that has battered country.
Dtic director-general Lionel October conceded mistakes were made in the past few months and certain situations could have been handled better.
“We were one of the countries who moved very decisively, and we did have a severe lockdown, but we’ve decided as the nation to err on the side of caution. So, we accept sometimes it was maybe too hush in those circumstances but at the time it was made, it was made in good faith,” October said.
But October said now was the time to focus on the future and how to make it better.
“I think the advice is very clear that we must strike a balance between consolidating and watching our debt very carefully, but also have a clear programme to at least show shift expenditure from consumption into investment spending,” he said.
