South Africa: 'Down With Austerity,' Say SA Trade Unions and Civil Society Organisations Before Budget Speech

19 February 2025
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Tamsin Metelerkamp

Trade unions and social movements formed a 'People's Budget Assembly' at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town in the lead-up to the 2025 Budget Speech, calling for an end to funding cuts and austerity measures.

During a march to Parliament on Wednesday they presented a memorandum demanding effective action to address the 'unfolding socioeconomic crisis' in South Africa. This article is free to read.Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.Unlike our competitors, we don't force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.Create your free account or sign in FAQ | Contact Us Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us: You want to receive First Thing, our flagship daily newsletter. Opt out at any time. Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you've forgotten A code has been sent to .... Please check your email and enter your one-time pin below: Didn't get the code? Resend email Use your password instead? Enter password Open in Gmail Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

Listen to this article 9 min Listen to this article 9 min 'When politicians say 'we are cutting the health budget', what they're saying is that 'we are cutting your lives'. That's what it means in healthcare."

These were the words of Lydia Cairncross, head of the department of surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital, at a gathering of trade unions and civil society organisations at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town on Tuesday, 18 February. She was among a number of activists and community leaders who highlighted the damaging consequences of austerity measures in the run-up to the 2025 Budget Speech.

The organisations formed part of a "People's Budget Assembly", representing more than 100,000 individuals across South Africa who submitted petitions to "put an end to the policy of budget cuts that are crippling the public sector and harming the poor and unemployed".

The gathering was followed by a march to Parliament on Wednesday morning, where the organisations planned to present a memorandum demanding effective action to address the "unfolding socioeconomic crisis" in the country. The letter was addressed to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Treasury director-general Duncan Pieterse.

The 2025 Budget Speech is due to be delivered by Godongwana...

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