Fresh optimism or another damp squib

Three years ago, government announced that public servants salary adjustments would no longer be announced in the budget speech. However, Oratile Modisane, a self-employed street vendor is hopeful that a salary increment will be in this year’s fiscal speech. “Many public servants earn peanuts. This is not only a concern to them, but also affects us as we depend on their income to boost our businesses. Government should consider their employees’ welfare when allocating the budget,” she said.

Dithuso Selepeng, an artist who runs his own company said he expected this year’s speech to dwell on improving education. Also, he would want to see a substantial increment to public workers’ salaries. “This will improve performance in school, which has been deteriorating. I also expect a good cut for Tourism along with Sports, Arts and Culture. We need to create a platform to attract tourists and improve on leisure for recreation,” he said.