Alliance wants more foods VAT-free, price fixing crackdown
The ANC-led alliance has called for urgent consideration of the removal VAT on a wider range of foodstuffs, a move likely to be opposed by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on the grounds that it benefits all consumers and not just the poor.
After a two-day summit, the alliance also called for “urgent national reflection on the appropriateness of inflation targeting as well as the ranges chosen as policy for South Africa given its developmental challenges”, and it also agreed to hold a top-level alliance conference on economic policy.
And in what could be another blow for the Rio Tinto-Alcan smelter at Coega, the alliance said it had also been agreed that “energy-intensive projects such as aluminium smelters should be reviewed”.
“The alliance will take active part in the study to determine the costs and benefits to the country and at provincial level of these decisions.”
Expressing its “deep concern at the devastating impact of rising food prices” it said on Sunday that urgent action was required to strengthen legislation to criminalise collusive behaviour, including price fixing in the food sector.
Further, it called for the revamping of school feeding schemes and increasing financial allocations to them - something Manuel has suggested - and subsidies to cushion the effect of price rises on the poor.
With regard to inflation, the alliance summit said it had noted that rising inflation was driven largely by external factors and that high and rising interest rates impacted negatively on poor communities and on job creation.
The alliance repeated an earlier rejection of Eskom's demand for a 53% tariff increase and also agreed that the energy summit should examine all aspects of the energy policy, not just electricity tariffs.
As far as the budget is concerned, the alliance said parliament “must introduce and pass legislation, as required by the Constitution, enabling it to amend money Bills”.
This, it said, should apply to all three spheres of government, include special appropriations and take into account urgent social needs and other priorities.
It said provision should be made for special appropriations to address urgent national needs.
Manuel has declined to introduce legislation providing for legislatures to amend budgets as has been demanded all along by Cosatu. The trade union federation has said it would not give evidence to Parliament‘s finance committee on the budget until such legislation was passed.
The summit also called for land and agrarian reform programmes to be “radically speeded up, so that more land can be made available for food production to ensure food security and demanded that “the sale of publicly owned land for speculative purposes and non- developmental use should stop”.
Source: The Herald
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