It is the season to talk budgets

Budgeting should not be difficult to understand.
As a young boy, I learnt how to budget when I had to go to boarding school. Once I had spent my week’s pocket money, I had nothing left for the rest of the week. Borrowing and the likes was unheard of in those simple times. Later, when we married we used envelopes to balance our budget.
A budget is simply about balancing your income and expenditure. Today, you can use short or long term loans to balance them depending on your credit rating.
I want to use the national budget as an example because it is complete and easier to use than our municipal one which will take weeks of research to fathom out. The estimated national income is R1 189 billion while expenditure is R1 351 billion. A R162 billion shortfall – not good with a negative credit rating of “junk status”. At 2% growth, it is likely that expenditure will exceed income.
Some comments – social grants make up 12.7% of budget i.e. R151 billion annually. The R246 million spent on the President’s Nkandla dwellings becomes a drop in the ocean. The King’s wives Mercedes of R3 million hardly makes a ripple. Remember, before 1994, the present governing political party had little money and to have R1 189 billion in the kitty must be riches beyond their wildest dreams.
History has proven that economics have always beaten the politicians, try as they might. Take Zimbabwe where 80% of the revenue is spent on government remuneration, leaving very little for upliftment, poor, infrastructure, development, service deliveries etc.
The monuments, colonialism, afrophobia etc. are getting the thinking processes going for most South Africans and hopefully will lead to a better place for all.
F E DU TOIT
Ballito