‘Down with austerity,’ say SA trade unions and civil society organisations before Budget Speech

South African trade unions and civil society organisations gather at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town to protest against budget cuts and austerity measures ahead of the 2025 budget speech, 18 February 2025. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp

19 Feb 2025

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.

‘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 in the National Assembly this afternoon.

Among the organisations behind the memorandum were People Against Budget Cuts, Cry of the Xcluded, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the South African Communist Party, the Alternative Information and Development Centre, Assembly of the Unemployed, Amadiba Crisis Committee and the Botshabelo Unemployed Movement.

budget South African trade unions and civil society organisations, which gathered in Cape Town before the Budget Speech on 18 February 2025, say poverty in communities is at a level not seen before. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

In her address on Tuesday, Cairncross, who has worked in the public health system for more than 20 years, said: “I have seen people who have died in the last two years because we have lost our operating lists. We cannot help them. I have seen people who have not had the medication that they need and have suffered. Sometimes their cancer… has not been cured or has come back because we did not have the budget.

“In 2023/24, this country experienced the most severe cuts in the health budget since 1994… In the year that this budget cut was announced, the NHI [National Health Insurance] Bill was signed into law… There’s no NHI without a public health budget. So, when we campaign for NHI, we also have to campaign to defend and protect the health budget… When we say that we protect the right to health, we have to say we protect the health budget at the same time.”

The People’s Budget

Abida Adams, a member of the steering committee for People Against Budget Cuts, presented the People’s Budget at St George’s Cathedral on behalf of a “united front of trade unions, social movements and progressive forces”, stating that the collective rejected the government’s path of “austerity, privatisation and deepening inequality”.

Adams noted that more than 30 years after the adoption of the Freedom Charter the country faced “a social catastrophe”.

“Mass unemployment, hunger... and a stagnant economy have become the daily reality of our people. While the government preaches about debt, over 10 million people go hungry every week,” she said.

Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, pictured at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on 18 February 2025, says an ideology of ‘profits over people’ is eroding basic human rights in the country. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, signed the petition to end budget cuts and austerity measures on 18 February 2025. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

“These conditions are not an accident. Corruption has played a role, but the real driver is a government that protects the interests of the wealthy while the majority suffer. The budget is not simply about numbers. It is a tool that can either uplift the majority or tighten the grip of the rich over our lives.”

Among the actions proposed in the People’s Budget are:

The provision of adequate funding for public services, including critical vacancies in public schools, hospitals and clinics;

The provision of adequate funding for tertiary institutions, including the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and student housing;

A commitment and timelines for the implementation of a basic income grant of R1,750 for the unemployed;

A stop to the privatisation of essential services;

Investing in job-creating sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing, to stop mass unemployment;

Expanding the Expanded Public Works Programme; and

The redistribution of land to build decent housing and undo the legacy of apartheid.

“A well-funded budget is not a privilege – it is a necessity in a country marked by deep inequality. But the national Treasury continues its reckless cuts under the guise of reducing debt… We propose that immediate steps to control and reduce prices... for commodities like food, fuel and electricity are taken,” Adams said.

The strategies proposed in the memorandum included a progressive net wealth tax on the “super rich” and decisive action against corruption in government and the private sector.

Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi argued that neoliberalism, austerity and privatisation had “systematically eroded” public services and deepened the chasm of inequality within the country, leading to a prioritisation of “profits over people”.

“We are told by those in power that there is no money. There’s no money for public welfare, yet funds are readily available for corporate bailouts and the gatherings of the ANC. This glaring contradiction exposes the true priorities of a system designed to serve the interest of a privileged few at the expense of the many,” he said.

“In my younger days there was a very popular slogan that we used to say – that power concedes nothing without a struggle. We must unite workers, students and communities to form a formidable movement against austerity, against privatisation and systemic injustice. Our strength lies not within the corridors of Parliament, but in our collective presence in the streets, workplaces and public platforms such as this.”

South African trade unions and civil society organisations at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on 18 February 2025. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

From young people

Speaking on behalf of advocacy organisation Youth Capital on Tuesday, Nape Senong highlighted the high unemployment rate in the country, which disproportionately affected young people and women.

“We all know a young person who does not work; we all know a young person who cannot get funding for university… We are calling for a budget that prioritises the people, but particularly prioritises the biggest population group of this country, which is young people,” he said.

“We are calling for a budget that prioritises public development programmes as a way for young people to gain entry into the job market.”

Zenande Nyete, a 15-year-old pupil and representative of the nonprofit Equal Education, said budget cuts had arrived at a time when many children were studying in overcrowded classrooms. The loss of funding meant many teachers were likely to face unemployment, she added.

“We’re studying in schools that do not have clean sanitation... We’re talking about schools where children go long miles without having transport, and we’re talking about those schools where there is no safety,” she said.

“We are the people of this country, and we should be those people who believe that if something is wrong, we should fix it… If ever we live in this country without fighting, I believe that there will be nothing that will change… and then the future generation will come and there will be no change, because we didn’t set an example for them.” DM

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The People’s Budget

From young people