Labour federations Cosatu and the South African Federation of Trade Unions have led calls for a budget that addresses massive unemployment and weak growth
There are concerns that the decision will weaken the ANC in future elections
Tax bracket over-inflation has led to income inequality and less money for essential services
The third instalment of Lessons for the Left considers what happens when a grassroots resistance movement takes on entrenched neoliberalism
The medium term budget policy statement (MTBPS) on 30 October will lay out spending intentions for the next three years. This is the first chance the government of national unity…
Today, as the country awaits the next update on the state of its public purse, the prospect of a debt crisis seems more imminent than before. This is as South Africa’s fiscal…
The choice to adopt austerity is not about protecting the state against capture — nor is it about realising untapped growth
The SACP says the finance minister’s proposed spending cuts are an inappropriate response the country’s economic problems
The ruling party’s economic transformation committee head, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the treasury’s proposals were ‘unfortunate’, ‘illegal’ and a ‘tick-box exercise’
The proposal suggested the bloated cabinet be cut and departments trim their expenditure
Another round of spending cuts stand to shake the governing party’s already rickety foundations
Like a household, new spending will be financed through tax increases or budget cuts
Nearly half of South African women are left out of the country’s labour force — and gender-friendly budgeting could fix that
The state has to employ another one million people to match international standards
This year’s budget will be a balancing act, but the treasury needs to prioritise restoring South Africans economic agency
Experts’ strategies for fixing the unemployment crisis range from devaluing the rand to a universal income grant or accepting debt from loans
Economists predict the finance minister will speak about the basic income grant, the effect of the July riots on the fiscus, and bailouts
Ramaphosa needs to build broad political consensus if he is to have any chance of pursuing his fiscal and structural reform agenda
Critics argue that South Africa’s latest submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a unilateral and fraught exercise
The state faces a dilemma: it made a three-year wage agreement with public servants in 2018, before the pandemic, but reneging on it now will undermine labour’s trust
