CAPE TOWN - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Wednesday returned to the podium with an Aloe Ferox plant when delivering his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament on Wednesday.
The minister used the Aloe Ferox as a metaphor for the economy after winter and symbolises the country surviving many "years of famine", many years of weak growth and could also reference many years of state capture. He first introduced the plant at his previous Budget speech in February, stating that he drew inspiration from his part-time job as a farmer.
This plant was used to demonstrate that South Africa needed to plant seeds again, so that the economy could once more have plenty. In his opening remarks, he said, "Madam Speaker on Budget day 2019, I brought a resilient Aloe Ferox plant to the house...This little aloe is emerging from a long winter. During that winter the ground became hard, the leaves fell from the trees and the air was bitterly cold."