Parties and labour organisations have slammed the 2026 Budget for failing to tackle low growth, high unemployment, and municipal distress. (GCIS)
“Out of touch, austerity-driven and insufficient to tackle the country’s persistent economic crises” was how some political parties have described Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget tabled in parliament on Wednesday.
In his speech, Godongwana projected GDP growth of 1.8% over the medium term, well below the 3% considered necessary to stabilise per capita income and slash unemployment.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) slammed the 2026 budget review as serving the interests of global capital at the expense of the majority of South Africans.
“This is a fictional budget that relies on different creative accounting methods to achieve a meaningless ‘fiscal anchor,’” the party said.
The Red Berets added that the attempt to introduce legislation that will “entrench austerity and the privatisation of public functions as a default approach must be rejected on democratic principles and in defence of the Constitution”.
But while condemning the bulk of the fiscal framework, the EFF welcomed personal income tax relief and increases to social grants.
“We welcome the adjustment of personal income tax brackets in line with 3.4% inflation… this much-needed relief to highly indebted households, in particular Black workers,” the party said.
“Social grants should be doubled as a means to bring meaningful relief to our people and to increase demand for goods in our economy.”
Labour federation Cosatu dismissed the budget as lacklustre, warning that fiscal discipline has been prioritised over addressing unemployment and boosting economic growth.
“We cannot afford to continue to normalise 1% economic growth nor 41.1% unemployment,” it said, welcoming funding increases for social services and infrastructure while criticising gaps in promised delivery.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) , the official opposition, said the budget reflected a departure from the liberation mandate, prioritising fiscal consolidation over land reform, education, local government support and industrialisation.
“The consequence is a managed decline for the African majority,” the party said.
ActionSA MP Alan Beesley welcomed relief measures such as the scrapping of planned tax increases and the raising of the VAT registration threshold for small businesses.
“When SARS (the South African Revenue Service) is properly resourced, higher taxes are unnecessary… [this] will ease compliance burdens and support growth, investment and job creation,” Beesley said.
RISE Mzansi party leader Songezo Zibi welcomed debt stabilisation targets and allocations for security and infrastructure but urged practical delivery.
“While fiscal discipline is necessary, the true effectiveness of this budget will not be measured by spreadsheets but by how it translates into what matters most to South Africans in the 2026/27 financial year: jobs, food on the table, functional local governments, safe streets and reliable infrastructure,” Zibi said.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Mark Burke, whose party is the second-largest in the government of national unity led by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC, said the budget was evidence of coalition influence, particularly in tax and small-business policy.
“For the first time in 18 years, the VAT registration threshold for SMMEs (small, medium, and micro enterprises) has been adjusted from one to over two million Rand,” Burke said.
“No budget is perfect but this one is an improvement. It shows action, not only words, when it comes to assisting small businesses,” adding that the party was concerned with the stagnant growth seen in the country.
“We cannot be happy with 1.6 percent GDP growth… A country that is serious about jobs needs ever more daring budgets and far better execution by departments,” he added.
Burke also criticised the continued financial burden of state-owned enterprises: “Not only do SOEs frequently require bailouts and debt guarantees, but they also require the annual transfer of billions, many of them pointless.”
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