WALK THE TALK

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If this government is to receive our support to save this country from drowning in a financial quagmire, it needs to earn our trust by walking the talk.

There has been much talk about the need to freeze salaries of civil servants and reduce politicians’ salaries, but decisive action on everything else that is a drain to the public purse appears to be non-existent.

We are disappointed in seeing government continue to splash on luxury cars with the purchase of a E1.4 million to of the range for our country’s High Commissioner in South Africa, despite the uproar that met the over E2 million car sought for the chief justice a few months ago. This while millions worth of top of the range BMW sedans purchased for the SADC Summit are parked idle.

There is also no explanation to the public on why some of the former ministers are still cruising around in the BMWs without having paid for them. Why are these government cars not parked at the CTA while valuations and sale transactions take place?

Now we learn of government’s decision to rent cars for the new ministers under the guise that it awaits the recommendations of the Royal Commission to give direction on what becomes of the regrettable Finance Circular No. 2 of 2013.  The taxpayer will have to continue footing the bill until February next year following the extension of the commission’s deadline to January 31, 2019.

How do we explain this splurge to the transport operators that were engaged for the national elections but haven’t been paid? What of the patients in hospitals who have been told of more drug shortages, not to mention the elderly who have to wait longer for their grants? Nurses are reporting ambulance shortages once again while security companies have dumped several health facilities due to unpaid services.

Some ministries can barely pay water and electricity bills. At the rate we are going bread will now fall under luxury goods if the proposed hike succeeds while income for the people remains frozen. The early ‘fiscal prudence’ signals coming from Hospital Hill are discouraging to say the least. They say actions speak louder than words and we expect the prime minister to quickly rein in his charges before we plug our ears to all the rhetoric about belt-tightening while those of the fat cats remain inconsiderately loose.

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