Finance minister Tito Mboweni must brace himself for a tough battle ahead. Labour unions won't be happy with his new measures aimed at improving the economy.

I'm sure our spoilt politicians won't like to hear that they won't be getting a raise. I know at some stage someone will go out and agitate communities to revolt against these measures.

One thing I know is, tough decisions need to be made. Whether Mboweni's measures work or not, at least it's a start.

I still believe he missed one point.

The tender system is a huge problem. If it worked properly, government would have produced many black industrialists it so desires by now.

But because the tender system in its current form is fraudulent, tenders still go to people with political connections. Some of that money makes its way back to the pockets of influential politicians.

Tenders would have changed so many lives if they went to qualified and professional people and companies. As things stand, no one even cares about the quality of work delivered.

Government can save lots of money by ensuring it gets value for money from tenders. It's also a known fact that municipalities are a den of corruption. Up to now, government has showed little interest in dealing with the matter head on. Figures of wasteful expenditure are staggering and municipalities have no reason to owe Eskom.

Richardson Mzaidume, Pimville