Macpherson’s budget turns state property into growth, and ensures corruption cut

Minister Dean Macpherson's Budget speech today confirmed that 801 state-owned properties are being put up for sale to bring private sector investment into idle land, for economic growth, and to create thousands of jobs.

These currently idle properties will also generate revenue for the state, while at the same time eliminating their current financial burden on the state. Under Macpherson assets owned by the people of South Africa will no longer cost the taxpayer to upkeep, but instead become job-creators.

This exemplifies the DA in government turning idle resource-drains, into proactive job- and revenue-creators.

The DA is proud to see a fundamental change in how government leases private property too, with Minister Macpherson breaking the monopoly on leases that was held by an entity called the "Property Management Trading Entity" which inflated lease costs and cost taxpayer billions in unnecessary leases. Breaking this monopoly is a bold step forward by Minister Macpherson.

Macpherson's clean-up of the politically hijacked Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is another key breakthrough, warmly welcomed by the DA. The programme under Macpherson is being restructured to prioritise transparency and fairness, with:

• A clear, merit-based selection process,
• A fair rotation system, and
• Strengthened oversight.

It is high time that someone put a stop to the abuse of what should be a welfare safety net, of temporary employment, being used as an ANC patronage machine.

Finally EPWP can fulfil its purpose as a support mechanism for the unemployed, and the actions of Minister Macpherson mean that more poor South Africans can look forward to obtaining these work opportunities without any political interference.

The DA also sees Macpherson's small harbour reform as a direct tool of local economic development. By assessing harbours based on their local economic impact and investing in targeted upgrades, the Department has started enabling small-scale and subsistence fishers to earn a living and put food on the table. This is a gamechanger for local coastal communities.

Macpherson's fight against corruption is most noteworthy, and this Budget signals a firm clampdown on corruption and abuse.

Minister Macpherson's ongoing ghost employee audit has already identified at least 60 individuals who have been drawing salaries without performing any work, with a notable concentration of these cases in KwaZulu-Natal, raising serious concerns about past oversight.

The Minister is also writing to the Public Service Commission to investigate a surge in permanent appointments made shortly before the 2024 elections, a pattern that raises legitimate questions about whether due process was followed.