The SACP has rejected Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s proposed austerity measures as an attack on public service bargaining.
SACP’s criticism follows a leaked National Treasury letter dated August 31, which has sparked controversy.
According to SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo, the letter revealed that National Treasury did not allocate funds for salary increases for public servants.
The party perceived Godongwana’s move as an attempt to put pressure on national departments, public entities, and provincial governments to cut budgets in essential areas.
In a strongly worded statement, Mashilo said: “We do not agree that neo-liberal austerity is an appropriate response any more than it was when we were confronted with several other similar challenges in the recent past.”
He said spending cuts will have detrimental consequences for public programmes, especially those related to infrastructure development and industrial policy support.
The country, according to Mashilo, faces a multifaceted crisis that he described as a “cost of living crisis”.
The crisis, he added, disproportionately affects lower-income individuals, particularly in terms of food prices.
According to Mashilo, the causes of the economic problems are global factors and domestic policy failures dating back to government’s adoption of the neoliberal Growth, Employment, and Redistribution policy in 1996.
He said austerity proposals, instead of providing solutions, would further stifle economic growth, leading to a deepening crisis for the working class and poor people.
The SACP is dismayed at the government’s inability to break free from the cycle of austerity measures, said Mashilo.
It pledged to collaborate with like-minded organisations and individuals to build a popular left-front advocating for a people-centred and inclusive alternative to both neoliberal austerity and neoliberalism in general.
“The SACP is deeply concerned at the apparent inability of the ANC-led government to chart any course out of the vicious cycle of cuts reinforcing stagnation and leading to more cuts.”
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