Abahlali to Picket outside the Durban City Hall to demand an End to Budget Cuts

27 October 2020

Abahlali press statement

Abahlali to Picket outside the Durban City Hall to demand an End to Budget Cuts

Tomorrow morning Abahlali will join comrades in pickets to be held around South Africa to issue a clear rejection of the ongoing budget cuts by the national treasury. Austerity is not the solution to the economic crisis. We have seen, around the world, that austerity, which is a new name for structural adjustment, has had a devastating impact on the poor and the working class. What we need is massive investment in our people and in our society – investment in schools, libraries, hospitals, housing, community halls, safe houses for women facing abuse, grassroots urban agriculture and much, much more.

The picket is being held tomorrow because the Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, is set to announce the long-awaited Medium-Term Budget speech. We have already seen the signs of cuts in public expenditure amid Covid-19 pandemic and in the middle of economic crises facing South Africa and the world and we fear that tomorrow’s budget will be another step on the road to austerity.

People are already out of work. People are already hungry. The conditions in many schools and hospitals are already a disgrace. Millions are already without land and housing. Austerity will make all this worse.

We reject all cuts to social expenditure, and every budget that promotes inequality, impoverishment and mass unemployment. We will be demanding the creation of decent jobs for all. We will be demanding well land to build decent housing for all and to plough food to feed our families. We will be demanding a guaranteed income for all. We believe that all of this is possible if the government can tax the rich and big corporates that dodge their responsibility to pay taxes, and put an end to the massive looting of the state.

The kleptocratic faction of the ANC looted public funds on a massive scale and repressed popular opposition with violence and murder. The neoliberal faction of the ANC aims to cut social spending, which will be devastating for the poor. We are opposed to both factions of the ruling party. We are for society. We are for justice. We for an end to oppression.

Land, wealth and power must be shared.

We will assemble at the Durban City Hall at 10:00am for the picket.

Contact

Ayanda Ngila: 067 983 3345

Busi Diko: 060 305 8224

Lindokuhle Mnguni: 081 491 4027