With Monday’s news that President Jacob Zuma is calling Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan back from an investment roadshow in the UK‚ there has been some speculation about whether this means he plans to reshuffle the ministry.
To change finance ministers would cost the country money — the question is how much would it cost?
According to IOL in May of 2016‚ Public Investment Corporation (PIC) chief executive Daniel Matjila told Parliament Zuma’s decision to sack Finance Minister Nhlanhla Musa Nene cost the PIC about R99 billion.
The PIC is an investment corporation that is entirely owned by the government‚ so the government lost R99 billion.
To put this into context‚ consider #feesmustfall‚ the protests that have shaken our institutions of higher learning with their demands for free tertiary education. Those demands‚ we are frequently told‚ are unaffordable.
In 2016‚ South Africa’s treasury put those demands in figures‚ telling us what it would cost to have free tertiary education.
“Between 2017 and 2030‚ assuming inflation growth in allocations for universities and TVET colleges to compensate for no fess will require R552.5 billion in additional funding and R90.9 billion in additional funding for TVET colleges‚” Treasury said.
If we divide by 13‚ the number of years involved‚ that comes out to about R42.5 billion a year for universities‚ and R6.99 billion for the TVET colleges. So the cost of free tertiary education is about R49.49 billion a year.
That is just under half of what Zuma reshuffling the finance ministry cost the government’s investment corporation the last time he did it.
Does Zuma calling Gordhan home presage a cabinet reshuffle? We hope not‚ because if we cannot afford to deliver free tertiary education for all‚ we certainly cannot afford a sequel to Nene’s sacking.
OPINION: If we can’t afford free tertiary education‚ we can’t afford to change finance ministers
With Monday’s news that President Jacob Zuma is calling Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan back from an investment roadshow in the UK‚ there has been some speculation about whether this means he plans to reshuffle the ministry.
To change finance ministers would cost the country money — the question is how much would it cost?
According to IOL in May of 2016‚ Public Investment Corporation (PIC) chief executive Daniel Matjila told Parliament Zuma’s decision to sack Finance Minister Nhlanhla Musa Nene cost the PIC about R99 billion.
The PIC is an investment corporation that is entirely owned by the government‚ so the government lost R99 billion.
To put this into context‚ consider #feesmustfall‚ the protests that have shaken our institutions of higher learning with their demands for free tertiary education. Those demands‚ we are frequently told‚ are unaffordable.
In 2016‚ South Africa’s treasury put those demands in figures‚ telling us what it would cost to have free tertiary education.
“Between 2017 and 2030‚ assuming inflation growth in allocations for universities and TVET colleges to compensate for no fess will require R552.5 billion in additional funding and R90.9 billion in additional funding for TVET colleges‚” Treasury said.
If we divide by 13‚ the number of years involved‚ that comes out to about R42.5 billion a year for universities‚ and R6.99 billion for the TVET colleges. So the cost of free tertiary education is about R49.49 billion a year.
That is just under half of what Zuma reshuffling the finance ministry cost the government’s investment corporation the last time he did it.
Does Zuma calling Gordhan home presage a cabinet reshuffle? We hope not‚ because if we cannot afford to deliver free tertiary education for all‚ we certainly cannot afford a sequel to Nene’s sacking.
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