Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has asked Parliament for an extension in submitting two crucial reports from the National Treasury.
Tito Mboweni under pressure over delayed financial statements
The first is Treasury’s annual financial statements for the 2019/2020 period which, he claimed, was delayed due to “a dispute with the Office of the Auditor-General.”
The minister assured Parliament’s Speaker Thandi Modise that once the legal review of the dispute between Treasury and the AG has been concluded, the annual reports should be ready for tabling by Friday 29 January 2021.
The second overdue submission is the National Revenue Fund statements which were expected by December 2020. These, the minister said, will be ready no later than 17 March 2021.
EFF attacks Mboweni for failing at doing his job
While we expect Modise to grant Mboweni his requests, this perceived incompetence shown by the finance minister has perturbed the EFF.
In a statement, the Red Berets lambasted Mboweni as one of many “displays that have come to characterise the Finance Ministry and National Treasury.”
To substantiate their displeasure with the minister, the EFF listed a number of objectives Mboweni failed to meet in his tenure.
“Mboweni made commitments to establish a state-owned bank and sovereign wealth fund, which he has failed to do. He has failed to develop a believable and practical economic policy to revive the economy. Entities that report to Mboweni are dysfunctional, particularly the Land Bank,” the statement read.
The Julius Malema-led party also lamented on the fact that the Public Investment Corporation “continues to function under an interim board while the PIC Amendment Bill sits in the president’s desk unsigned.”
“The EFF calls on the immediate submission of consolidated financial statements including the National Revenue Fund to Parliament. The National Treasury should not use the Auditor-General as a scapegoat for their incompetence,” the EFF said.