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2025 Budget speech, World Social Justice Day and annual social justice lecture

2025 Budget speech, World Social Justice Day and annual social justice lecture
Lerato Mutsila
By Lerato Mutsila
17 Feb 2025
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Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana is delivering the 2025 Budget Speech to the National Assembly at Cape Town City Hall and the sixth Annual Social Justice Lecture is taking place at Stellenbosch University.

Wednesday 20th February marks World Day of Social Justice. The UN General Assembly recognises that social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations and that, in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security, or in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

From Monday, 17 February to Wednesday 20 February, My Vote Counts will be in the Western Cape Division of the High Court where the organisation will challenge the constitutionality of the Political Party Funding Act.

While My Vote Counts maintains that the act has gone a long way in deepening transparency in our politics, it needs to be strengthened to meet its aims of transparency, openness and accountability.

“In its current form, it allows donations below R100,000 to go undisclosed, exempts natural persons from disclosure, ignores cumulative donations from related entities, allows excessive individual donations of up to R15-million per year, and grants the president unchecked discretion over funding limits,” My Vote Counts said. 

Read My Vote Counts’ Founding Affidavit, Supplementary Affidavit, and Heads of Argument.

Also on Tuesday, 18 February at 4 pm several civil society organisations, workers’ unions and political parties will host the People’s Budget Assembly in anticipation of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget Speech.

Venue: St George’s Cathedral, 

Cape Town



On Wednesday, 19 February at 2pm, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana will deliver the 2025 Budget Speech before the National Assembly at the Nieuwmeester Dome, the temporary chamber of Parliament.

“The Budget allocation aligns with the priorities outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his 2025 State of the Nation Address (Sona 2025), delivered two weeks ago. In his address, the president detailed the national government’s plans to address the country’s unemployment crisis and other socioeconomic challenges,” according to a Parliament press release.

Godongwana will also introduce the Appropriation Bill and table the Division of Revenue Bill, which Parliament will process in the coming months. The event will be broadcast live on Parliament’s DSTV Channel 408 and livestreamed on Parliament’s social media platforms, including Parliament’s YouTube Channel.

On Wednesday, 19 February at 10am the same organisation will host a March budget cut in anticipation of widespread austerity measures being announced in the 2025 Budget speech.

The organisation’s demands include:


  • End budget cuts

  • Fully fund public services

  • Implement a universal basic income grant

  • Address unemployment crisis

  • Provide decent service delivery

  • Tax the rich


Venue: Hanover Street (CPUT),

Cape Town



Also on Wednesday, at 6pm Youth Capital will host a space on X where the organisation will be joined by Budget Justice SA to debrief on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget speech.

Join the conversation at this link. 

Thursday, 20 February at 2pm, the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights ISER Uganda will host a webinar on Digital ID, Inclusion and Human Rights.

Digital Governance: Who Gets Counted will explore how digital ID systems in Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda are shaping access to services and what this means for human rights.

Register to join the conversation at this link.



Also on Thursday, Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Social Justice will host the 6th Annual Social Justice Lecture delivered by Lord Dr Michael Hastings.

Under the theme of Sacrifice and Integrity, the indivisible inevitability for social justice, Hastings hopes to “ignite a fire” in people to dedicate more time, energy and resources towards social justice.

Hastings noted that this year’s lecture comes at a critical crossroads in global affairs, from the war in Ukraine to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, from rising poverty levels to the erosion of trust in leadership and the media, the world is grappling with challenges that demand collective action and moral courage.

Venue: Adams Small Theatre, Stellenbosch University

RSVP by Monday, 17 February 2025 at this link.



Registration is now open for the 17th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

Undergraduate and master’s students from any university around the world are invited to form teams of two and submit their heads of arguments for a hypothetical human rights case. 

The best 50 teams from the UN regions will be invited to participate in the online preliminary rounds from 6 to 12 May 2025. The 16 best teams will move forward to the advanced in-person rounds at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 14 to 18 July 2025.

For more information visit this website or contact competition Coordinator Tapiwa Mhuru.



The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is inviting schools and youth groups to sign up for an Anti-Racism Assembly. The initiative forms part of Anti-Racism Week, which will run from 14 to 21 March and calls on schools and youth groups to promote equality, inclusion and non-racialism.

The foundation says that the assembly will empower learners to:

  • Learn about South Africa’s history of racialisation

  • See beyond racial and social divisions

  • Speak out against racism and discrimination

  • Create inclusive and equitable spaces


Sign up at this link. DM

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