The developed world should regard developing countries such as those in Africa as their partners and stop reacting rashly when the US Federal Reserve changes course, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.<\/p>\n
He spoke at a breakfast in Cape Town which was jointly hosted by eNCA and SABC, following the delivery of his Budget Speech in parliament on Wednesday. In response to a question from German Ambassador Walter Lindner about what his message to foreign investors should be, Gordhan said: \u201cAfrica is uncharted territory and South Africa specifically has the most sophisticated business infrastructure on the continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, there are problems with connectivity, but we want to discourage the developed world to cause so many ebbs and flows in emerging markets. Things keep changing and your capital inflow and outflow hurt developing countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cas Coovadia, managing director of the Banking Association of South Africa, asked Gordhan if he has the necessary support from the rest of government for the budget he proposed, especially where state-owned enterprises are concerned.<\/p>\n
Read: These 75 people cost South Africa billions each year<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMinister, it\u2019s a tough environment in which you had to draft the budget and reaction from the business sector was very positive. But government also needs to get behind this budget and take the hard decisions to implement the plans.\u201d He asked Gordhan if privatisation of SOEs is an option at all.<\/p>\n Gordhan did not answer the question directly, but said: \u201cPrivatisation has become a deadly word in South Africa, as there\u2019s a view that state assets should be utilised for developmental purposes.<\/p>\n \u201cIn nominal terms that\u2019s fine, but we find ourselves in an environment where we just don\u2019t have enough money to give, say, R3bn to SAA. That\u2019s why we need to bring multiple brands (in SOEs) together and merge boards. We need to mobilise all the capital we can get. And apologies to those who make their money sitting on boards.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘I’ll be fired if I say anything about cabinet size’<\/strong><\/p>\n Leanne Manas, SABC Morning Live presenter, asked Gordhan to respond to some viewers\u2019 questions about the size of President Jacob Zuma\u2019s cabinet and the burden it puts on the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe finance minister will be fired if he says anything about the size of the cabinet,\u201d Gordhan quipped. \u201cI can\u2019t comment on that. Constitutionally that is the president\u2019s prerogative. If you actually look at the numbers, it (the cabinet) doesn\u2019t cost billions of rands. But having two houses (in Cape Town and Pretoria) does.\u201d<\/p>\n Zuma unlikely to downsize cabinet: report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Zuma increases government salaries ahead of budget speech<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n We only need these 15 ministries in South Africa: DA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nFin24<\/a><\/h3>\n
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