Tito Mboweni: Three ‘major lies’ he told during his Budget Speech

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is getting it in the neck this week, following his unpopular Budget Speech on Wednesday. He’s been criticised for being ‘light on detail’, as political opponents to their best shots at the ANC stalwart. However, it now seems that the complaints go deeper than policy disagreements – and a ‘battle for the truth’ has erupted.

Tito Mboweni – the lies he is accused of telling:

Segregation at Tygerberg Hospital

Several organisations – some friends, some foes – believe that Mboweni was extremely economical with the truth on several issues. First up, the DA was left incandescent after Tito’s off-the-cuff quip about Tygerberg Hospital tried to frame the party as racist. He claimed the facility was still ‘racially segregated’ – and Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo has branded his utterance as an ‘insulting lie’.

“I demand an apology from Tito Mboweni, for claiming Tygerberg Hospital is segregational. His utterances are an insult to our hardworking Healthcare Workers. I refuse to let this one go. To claim that these dedicated men and women, who worked long, difficult shifts over a period of months to save lives, would stand for racial segregation in their wards is insulting.”

Nomafrench Mbombo

Freezing the public sector wage bill

The Public Servants’ Association (PSA) has also registered their disdain with Mboweni’s speech, claiming that he was fibbing about freezing the public wage bill. According to the group, a legal dispute prevents the minister from taking action:

“He was lying. We can’t open negotiations with the government while we have a legal dispute over the non-implementation of the last agreement.”

The Public Servants’ Association (PSA)

Tito Mboweni’s ‘non-existent negotiations’ with the PSA

Cosatu even stuck the boot over the weekend and went one further than the PSA. They claim that Tito Mboweni even lied about setting up a meeting with the relevant bodies to discuss the wages of public servants. The union slammed TM for making ‘untrue statements’ about engaging in negotiations with relevant stakeholders:

“Mboweni also stated that Senzo Mchunu is engaging with unions on public sector wages and the public service wage bill. This statement is untrue – no such engagements are taking place.”

Cosatu