Over 300 people from various social movements and trade unions marched from Hanover Street in District Six to Parliament to protest budget cuts, austerity measures, and the privatisation of essential services.
The rally took place ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2025 Budget Speech, which has since been postponed to March, reportedly due to disputes over a proposed 2% increase in Value-Added Tax (VAT).
Among the organisations and unions represented were People Against Budget Cuts, Cry of the Xcluded, SAFTU, COSATU, SACP, the Alternative Information and Development Centre, the Assembly of the Unemployed, the Amadiba Crisis Committee, and the Botshabelo Unemployed Movement.
The group issued several demands, including immediate government intervention to control and reduce the prices of food, fuel, and electricity; increased resources for safety, security, and rehabilitation; an end to austerity policies; and funding for the filling of public sector vacancies, particularly in schools, hospitals, and clinics.
The coalition also called for “real commitment and timelines” for the implementation of a Basic Income Grant of R1 750 for unemployed South Africans.
Additionally, they demanded government action to facilitate greater job creation, particularly in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and for the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to be extended for a minimum of three years to prevent workers from falling back into unemployment.
The coalition further called for an end to land dispossession and the redistribution of land for decent housing.
Equal Education representative Makanatsa Ziyambi said: “It’s not enough that we have a Constitution that says we have the right to basic education and the right to health, but we don’t truly receive these rights in quality.”
Meanwhile, a large group of women farmworkers and dwellers protested outside the gates of Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday, demanding the implementation of a wealth tax on the country’s richest 1%.
The demonstration was organised by the Women on Farms Project (WFP).
WFP director Colette Solomon stated that taxing the richest 1%—approximately 350,000 people—could generate significant revenue to address the country’s budget deficit and be used for redistributive social spending.
The organisation emphasized that these funds could support initiatives such as a basic income grant for impoverished South Africans and a dedicated budget for land acquisition and redistribution.
According to WFP, South Africa’s richest 1% owns 55% of the country’s wealth.
WFP activist Nicolene McGee from Paarl said: “We have gathered here because there are too many cuts. They cut our teachers, they cut our nurses. Our children are crammed into classrooms—60 or 70 in one room sometimes. They don’t think about our children, the future of our country. They give farmworkers a 1.28-cent increase. That’s not money. We live from hand to mouth… These people in Parliament, why don’t they cut their own salaries?”
