GroundUp reports that Hundreds of people from civic organisations and unions marched to Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday ahead of Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana’s Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). Many of the protesters sang struggle songs and held up posters which read: “Budget cuts kill education,” and “Create more permanent jobs’” as they walked through busy city streets.

Malvern De Bruyn, Western Cape general secretary of COSATU, said: “A worker spends up to 40% of their wages on petrol per month. We want the government to regulate fuel prices so that workers can have money for food.” Bus and taxi fares had also become unaffordable for many of the lower paid workers, he added. COSATU’s Solly Petoe said the union wanted the government to avoid cutting teacher posts. The Western Cape Education Department has announced that more than 2,400 teacher posts would be cut because of a lack of funds.

The group handed a memo to an official from the National Treasury. It called on Godongwana to “reduce the prices of basic commodities, strengthen crime prevention initiatives, and amplify crime prevention measures”. The marchers also demanded funding to fill vacancies in schools, hospitals and clinics, and the strengthening of “social safety nets to support vulnerable populations”.

by Vincent Lali and GroundUp Staff