Image Source: EWN
Local – Critics have slammed the austerity measures announced in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, accusing National Treasury of being out of touch with poor and marginalised communities and the daily hardships they continue to face. #PayTheGrants Campaign Spokesperson General Alfred said the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was at the centre of the organisation’s criticism, with a R6.8 billion cut drawing particular concern. He called the speech anti-poor.
“I think this budget speech to us is a clear direction of the level of ignorance by the Treasury, which is showing and proving beyond reasonable doubt to be an anti-poor and anti-working class with the austerity measures that are actually being escalated.”
One Million Approved, But Unpaid
The cut has raised questions about who is losing out, with the organisation saying about one million people approved for the SRD grant had not been paid. It said the speech also ignored unemployment, poverty and inequality. General Alfred, also coordinator of the Voices Against Evictions campaign, said the exclusionary measures were forcing SASSA and the Department of Social Development to cut their budgets, likening it to robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“It shows the very same ignorance and the lack of understanding of the realities on the ground because if it doesn’t address the issue of unemployment, the issue of inequality and the issue of high and skyrocketing poverty that the working class and communities are facing, then it shows and proves that the minister is not actually in touch with the realities on the ground.”
Whose Interests Are Served?
Concerns have also been raised about whose interests are being served, with the organisation arguing that the Treasury’s fiscal consolidation aimed to please the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. General Alfred said that 30 years after democracy, the promised better life had never materialised, and that constitutional rights were not being protected while millions of people across South Africa went hungry.
“I don’t think the constitutional rights that are guaranteed by the constitution of the country are being protected and guaranteed to everyone, as we are seeing that this is one of the rights that is under attack, under extreme attack by the Treasury.”
