As Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba prepares to present his maiden budget speech on February 21‚ he is looking for ideas from the public on how to find the money to deliver on President Jacob Zuma’s unexpected announcement of free tertiary education for the poor.
Zuma promised in December that the government would introduce fully subsidised free higher education and training for poor and working-class undergraduate students‚ starting in 2018 for first-year students at public universities — to be phased in over five years.
Questions over the financing of this pledge have swirled and it is Gigaba who needs to answer them.
On Monday, the Department of Finance said Gigaba would be delivering the budget "amid subdued economic growth and a challenging fiscal situation".
"It is in this context that the minister encourages South Africans to share their views about the country’s economic conditions and other issues they would like the government to highlight in the budget."
The minister said he would like to hear from the public on four issues:
• The funding of free education for students in tertiary institutions;
• How SA could achieve inclusive economic growth;
• How SA could use its resources to ensure efficiencies; and
• How the government‚ civil society‚ unions and business could work together for the purpose of achieving SA’s economic objectives.
Contributions can be sent via Twitter with the hashtag #BudgetTips2018.
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