By Charles Molele
COSATU has urged Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to present a budget aimed at bolstering the State’s capacity to deliver quality public services and spur economic growth.
The finance minister is scheduled to table his budget speech in Parliament next Wednesday.
COSATU spokesperson Matthew Parks said federation hope that the government will meet expectations as it presents the 2025/26 Budget.
He said that there was an urgent need for a bold, progressive, and proactive budget to empower the state in delivering essential public services and fostering economic recovery.
This includes addressing unemployment and ensuring sustainable revenue generation as the economy rebounds.
“What we cannot afford is yet another attempt by Treasury to delude ourselves into believing that tinkering at the sides will make a difference,” said Parks.
“If we are to turn South Africa around, then we need to ramp up support for Eskom to ensure loadshedding and load reduction is a thing of the past and that consumers and industries have reliable and affordable electricity.”
“[We also need to] put in place urgent measures to stablise the increasing numbers of dysfunctional municipalities and shift towards a new funding and District Development model.”
The union federation also called for urgent interventions at Transnet and Metro Rail to restore them to full productivity, arguing that their recovery is crucial to unlocking the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors – key drivers of revenue and jobs.
“The economy will grow if we fix the state, stimulate growth, and slash unemployment. It will not grow by further squeezing already under-resourced public services,” said Parks.
COSATU vowed to vehemently oppose any tax increases on the working class, particularly VAT or personal income tax hikes for low-income earners.
It warned that such measures would push struggling workers and their families – already burdened by rising living costs and a 400-basis-point hike in the repo rate – deeper into debt.
A VAT increase, it added, would fuel inflation.
“It would send a message that government prioritizes balancing tables and graphs over ensuring workers can put food on the table and afford electricity,” said Parks.
“This is a message politicians would be wise to heed as we approach the highly contested 2026 local government elections – especially our ally, the African National Congress.”
He stressed that revenue should instead be secured by strengthening the South African Revenue Service (SARS) through additional resources to combat tax evasion and customs fraud.
An extra R3 billion for SARS, he noted, could raise tax compliance from 64% to 67%, generating an additional R60 billion in state revenue.
“It makes no sense to punish those who already pay their taxes while ignoring those who don’t,” he said.
“Government has a choice: continue squeezing the poor and starving public services while hoping for an economic recovery, or take decisive action—fix the state, ensure it has the resources it needs, stimulate growth, and slash unemployment. Above all, SARS must be empowered to collect the funds the fiscus desperately needs.”
COSATU reiterated its outright rejection of any attempt to shift the financial burden onto workers and the poor.
“Now is the time for government to rise to the occasion and deliver a Marshall Plan that drives our economy toward the 3% growth we need,” said Parks.
“We simply cannot afford another limp budget—let alone one that pickpockets workers through VAT or personal income tax hikes.”
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