IN CONVERSATION WITH MATTHEW PARKS
Loading player...
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) presented its submission
on the 2026/27 Budget's Division of Revenue Bill to Parliament’s Select
Committee: Appropriations.
COSATU is extremely disappointed with the lackluster 2026/27 Budget and
Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. Whilst appreciating that there are
some important allocations that COSATU campaigned for in the Budget, it fails
to respond decisively to the fundamental crises facing the working class and the
economy, in particular a 41.1% unemployment rate, economic growth far below
the 3% needed to create jobs, struggling public and municipal services and
State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), entrenched levels of poverty and inequality,
and endemic crime and corruption. Tragically the Budget is focused on
balancing the books not at aggressively kickstarting economic growth or
tackling unemployment.
Key to providing an environment where the economy can take off and the lives
of the working class are improved, is to ensure that frontline public services
have the resources needed to fulfill their constitutional and developmental
mandates. We welcome investments in health and education, in particular R19
billion allocations to enroll 300 000 Grade R learners; R7.8 billion for the
National Health Insurance Grants plus R24 billion for revitalising public
healthcare, R92 billion for district health programmes, the building of 7 new
provincial hospitals and R21 billion for the employment of doctors over the
MTEF.
on the 2026/27 Budget's Division of Revenue Bill to Parliament’s Select
Committee: Appropriations.
COSATU is extremely disappointed with the lackluster 2026/27 Budget and
Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. Whilst appreciating that there are
some important allocations that COSATU campaigned for in the Budget, it fails
to respond decisively to the fundamental crises facing the working class and the
economy, in particular a 41.1% unemployment rate, economic growth far below
the 3% needed to create jobs, struggling public and municipal services and
State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), entrenched levels of poverty and inequality,
and endemic crime and corruption. Tragically the Budget is focused on
balancing the books not at aggressively kickstarting economic growth or
tackling unemployment.
Key to providing an environment where the economy can take off and the lives
of the working class are improved, is to ensure that frontline public services
have the resources needed to fulfill their constitutional and developmental
mandates. We welcome investments in health and education, in particular R19
billion allocations to enroll 300 000 Grade R learners; R7.8 billion for the
National Health Insurance Grants plus R24 billion for revitalising public
healthcare, R92 billion for district health programmes, the building of 7 new
provincial hospitals and R21 billion for the employment of doctors over the
MTEF.
