Send your Budget Tips to Trevor
18 January 2008
South Africa's National Treasury has once more invited members of the public to give Finance Minister Trevor Manuel tips on how they want the country's money to be spent.
The Department of Finance has launched its latest Tips for Trevor campaign to give South Africans from all walks of life a chance to write to the minister with advice on what they would like to see in the Budget for the 2008/09 fiscal year.
Some of the suggestions made by the
public have in past been referred to by Manuel, who will this year deliver his Budget speech in Parliament - for the 12th time - in Cape Town on 20 February.
Over 600 tips dealing with a wide variety of economic issues ranging from tax, macro-economic policies, to social and light-hearted issues were received following Manuel's 2007 Budget Speech.
The Treasury say it takes the public's suggestions very seriously. Manuel reads all the suggestions himself, and in some cases forwards them to different sections within the department.
Manuel has also been known to invite some members of the public who forwarded tips to a meeting to discuss their suggestions.
Last year's Budget (or was it the year before, or the year before that?) according to leading South African political cartoonist Zapiro
Past surveys
run by BuaNews showed that some South Africans wanted more money to be channelled to health for the building of more clinics and hospitals, while others thought using financial resources to battle crime should top the Treasury's agenda.
Of course, the Cabinet ultimately takes decisions about government spending, which is channelled to priority areas of the country - including social services, education, infrastructure development, debt payment and safety and security.
The Tips for Trevor campaign was launched eight years ago after radio station SAfm invited its listeners to phone in and provide tips for the Budget. Since then, more than 12 000 tips have been received
The campaign is run in order to ensure government spending is in line with what is expected from the South African public and gauges issues including education, social services, health, job creation and taxes.
SAinfo reporter and BuaNews
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