Are the South African government and especially Trevor Manual....?

being prudent in their approach to social spending versus spending on sustainable and job creating infrastructure?
http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/di...

How does the old proverb go? " If you give a man a fish, then he will eat today. If you teach a man how to fish, then he will eat for a lifetime." It seems like the government like to dish out a fish here and there to their favorites, but instead of teaching people how to fish, they actually take the fishing rod and break it. This is the fiscal policy of a government that will do anything to stay in power, even if the they have to sell the country out down the line.

"Direct government investment in infrastructure has plummeted from 48% of total spend over the past decade, to just over 12%, due mainly to a change in focus to social spending."

I would suggest that it has been at 12% for quite a few years already.

Many Civil Engineering Consultancies in SA had already by the mid/late 90s closed down their "Civils" section (roads, pipelines etc.) or alternatively kept a "skeleton crew" ,while opting to invest more time in the structural fields which receive more private work.

This is a bad sign as "Civils" is essentially infrastructure, and most of their work come directly from the budgets of municipalities.

It's no secret that a country can't function properly without an adequate infrastructure.

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Actually before we all get the mo6r in with Trevor, can anyone explain who has the final say in how the budget gets allocated? Does the buck stop with Trevor?

Of course we knew that this would happen, the less that they spend on the country the more they can steal, this is why everything thing in SA is collapsing, everything except their bank accounts.

Hi Bull, I always thought, that the government spending was never prudent and often underhanded, Trevor Manuel, in my opinion has brought this country to its knees financially.