By Akani Nkuna
Anti-austerity group Cry of the Xcluded and others will march on Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), demanding an end to public spending cuts and higher taxes on the wealthy.
The protest has been organised alongside social movements, trade unions, faith-based organisations and NGOs.
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Protesters will gather in Hanover Street, next to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, at 9am before marching to Parliament for a public “speak-out”. Godongwana is scheduled to deliver the MTBPS at 2pm.
Cry of the Xcluded has accused the government of pursuing austerity policies that disproportionately affect poor and working-class communities while protecting wealthy individuals and large corporations.
“Austerity is not an economic necessity. It is a class project that shifts the burden of economic crises onto the poor and working class while absolving capital, wealth, and multinational corporations of responsibility,” the group said in a statement.
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It said spending cuts had left clinics without sufficient medicine and nurses, classrooms overcrowded and municipal services deteriorating, while social grants remained inadequate to meet basic living costs.
“This is not a shortage of money. It is a political choice. Our communities must not pay for a crisis they did not create,” it said.
Cry of the Xcluded media liaison officer Busi Mtabane told Inside Politics that government austerity measures had contributed to job losses, wage freezes and the underfunding of essential services, including healthcare and education.
She said the government should reconsider its spending priorities and introduce measures to ensure wealthy individuals and multinational corporations contribute more towards addressing the country’s economic challenges.
Among the proposals raised was an annual net-worth tax targeting the wealthiest 1% of South Africans.
Research presented by the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) this month estimates that about 350,000 people have net wealth exceeding R5.6 million.
AIDC estimates that a progressive wealth tax could generate between R100 billion and R235 billion annually, depending on its design and the extent of tax avoidance and evasion.
Cry of the Xcluded has also called for a wealth tax on large corporations and action against illicit financial flows.
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Other tax reforms discussed by Mtabane include abolishing medical aid tax credits and restructuring retirement savings incentives to make the benefits more equitable across income groups.
AIDC has similarly proposed scrapping medical aid tax credits, which it estimates could generate about R30 billion annually, and replacing retirement contribution deductions with a more progressive tax credit system.
Mtabane also raised proposals to increase taxes on higher-income earners and reconsider government contributions to the Government Employees Pension Fund as possible alternatives to further spending cuts.
AIDC previously estimated that suspending government pension fund contributions for a year could save R53 billion. However, the Public Servants Association has opposed the proposal, warning that it could undermine confidence in the pension system and threaten public servants’ retirement security.
On social protection, Cry of the Xcluded wants the government to introduce a basic income grant sufficient to meet living costs.
Mtabane said the campaign wanted the existing R370 Social Relief of Distress grant converted into a Universal Basic Income Guarantee, alongside an increase in the Child Support Grant to the food poverty line and an end to exclusionary grant application procedures.
The campaign has also called for expanded access to municipal free basic services, with Mtabane pointing to an estimated 11.2 million households eligible for assistance.
Other demands raised by Mtabane include increased funding for healthcare, Grade R, schools, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and housing delivery.
She also called for vacant posts in schools, clinics and hospitals to be filled, the Presidential Employment Stimulus to receive sustained funding and the Basic Education Employment Initiative to be expanded.
Mtabane said the Expanded Public Works Programme should provide better wages and longer-term employment, including placements lasting at least three years.
Cry of the Xcluded was launched in February 2020 by the South African Federation of Trade Unions, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the Assembly of the Unemployed.
The campaign has consistently opposed austerity policies, arguing that reductions in public spending worsen inequality, unemployment and poverty.
“The call for a people’s budget isn’t just about resisting austerity; it is about creating a future where all South Africans can live with dignity, access to quality public services, and economic opportunities,” it said.
