budget

The Black Sash says President Jacob Zuma must tell South Africans how he is going to help the millions of unemployed and working poor who are facing a desperate daily struggle to survive the current recession.

Black Sash spokesperson, Nkosikhulule Nyembezi, called for Zuma to announce social grants for the unemployed and special attention for the country's 2,7 million unemployed young people.

Nyembezi says Zuma should also send out a loud and clear message that he will prevent any further xenophobic attacks in the country.

The Global Witness is accusing several of the world's largest banks of playing a role in supporting some of West Africa's most corrupt regimes.

In a report entitled "Undue Diligence", the organisation tracked the flow of money out of a number of the world's most criticised regimes. It argues that the trail leads to, and through, a handful of the world's largest international banks, including Citigroup, Barclays, and HSBC.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's 2009 budget outlined cautious plans to aid some of South Africa's struggling business sectors, namely mining and the motor industry, in the face of growing economic turmoil.

In his budget speech the minister highlighted a R1,8-billion "boost", for the local mining industry through the deferring of government's mining royalties regime, from this year to 2010.

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Finance minister Trevor Manuel has set aside R5.4 billion for safety and security to be ploughed into technology solutions.

In his budget speech this afternoon, the minister explained that part of the funding has been allocated to the sector's integrated fingerprint and DNA database. It will also be stretched to include the upgrade of the police's ICT systems, which will receive R100 million this year alone.

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Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's 2009/10 budget allows for a R161bn increase in allocations for improving the quality of education, health, crime fighting, public employment programmes and infrastructure investment.

Manuel said this meant 5.1% real growth in spending on public services over the next three years. This money will be targeted specifically to achieve five enduring principles, the first of which is protecting the poor during the period of slower economic growth that lay ahead.

South Africa ramped up spending in its 2009 budget and cut taxes to counter a global slowdown and boost an economy seen limping to its lowest rate of growth in more than a decade.

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