Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
24 February 2024 | 15:09 CAT

Image: SECTION27

Human rights organisation SECTION27 says the 2024/25 budget reflects the government’s commitment to an aggressive fiscal consolidation path without considering the impact on the Constitutional rights to basic education and health care.

The organisation was reacting to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2024 Budget Speech, which he delivered on Wednesday. Section27 says while the proposed cuts to basic services this year may, on the surface, appear less devastating than those presented in the Minister’s 2023 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, this budget will likely further constrain basic education and health care delivery across the country.

In an interview with Radio Islam International, a budget researcher at SECTION27, Tshidi Lencoasa, pointed out that while increases are welcomed, the increases are below inflation.

“Investment towards the right to basic education and health care are being eroded every year, the value is mostly being eroded by inflation as well as the rising dependency or the use of the public systems,” says Lencoasa.

Lencoasa highlighted that the budget is difficult for people who rely on public services because our economy has not been able to create meaningful employment and has not been able to redress poverty adequately.

“Fiscal policy including National Budgets could be a powerful lifeline for millions of people in this country and our National Treasury could pursue a budget that foregrounds human rights. Instead, the government has tabled a budget for 2024/25 that may aggravate the hardships with which people in this country are grappling. It is in moments like this that participatory human rights impact assessments are applied to budget decisions to protect the most marginalised learners and people in this country,” says SECTION27.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany.