SADTU’s REACTION TO THE MEDIUM-TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT BY FINANCE MINISTER GODONGWANA
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) notes the tabling of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. While we acknowledge the importance of fiscal stability and responsible management of public finances, we are deeply concerned that this statement places greater emphasis on stabilising debt and containing expenditure than on addressing the worsening socioeconomic conditions confronting the working class, the poor, the unemployed and public service workers.
As a union representing education workers, SADTU is disappointed that the MTBPS fails to offer the bold, decisive, and transformative interventions required to rebuild public education, strengthen the public service, create decent jobs, and improve the material conditions of ordinary South Africans.
SADTU notes the temporary reduction in the fuel levy, which will provide some relief to motorists and businesses. However, the limited duration of this intervention means that its benefits are short-lived. Workers cannot be expected to survive on temporary concessions while transport, food, electricity, housing, and other essential costs continue to consume an ever-increasing share of their incomes.
Similarly, the government’s commitment to protecting the social wage must translate into adequately funded public services, accessible healthcare, quality education, social protection, and meaningful support for vulnerable households. Protecting the social wage must mean protecting the dignity and livelihoods of the people who depend on it.
SADTU is particularly concerned about the implications of the government’s expenditure-containment approach for public service. The proposed early retirement and voluntary exit measures, which the Minister says will generate average annual savings of R4.4 billion, raise serious questions about the government’s understanding of capacity, service delivery, and the long-term sustainability of the public service.
The claim that these measures will rejuvenate the public service must be tested against the realities confronting schools. Across the education sector, educator establishments remain
constrained, permanent appointments are insufficient, and substitute teachers are often not appointed when educators are absent for extended periods. The consequence is increased workloads for educators who remain in the system, compromised teaching and learning, and the loss of experienced professionals whose institutional knowledge and expertise should be transferred to younger educators.
You cannot rejuvenate the public service by removing experienced personnel while failing to recruit and retain the people needed to deliver essential services. You cannot improve education outcomes by stretching fewer educators across more learners. And you cannot claim to be investing in the future while failing to invest adequately in the people responsible for educating that future.
We are in the last leg of the public service wage agreement signed in 2024 at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSBC), the statement is silent on how government will start and approach the wage negotiations as they are about to start at the PSCBC.
SADTU demands a clear plan to address educator shortages, fill funded vacancies, improve educator provisioning, ensure the timely appointment of substitute teachers, and strengthen the capacity of schools. Savings achieved at the expense of service delivery are not evidence of efficiency; they are a false economy whose costs are ultimately shouldered by learners, workers, and communities.
Whereas SADTU welcomes the R1.6 billion earmarked over the medium term for pre-birth care and the first 1,000 days of life, we remain concerned by proper funding to formalise and professionalise Early Childhood Development (ECD) supporting practitioners to improving their qualifications, attend to their salaries and conditions of work. We expect further details on how these funds will be spent, how services will reach vulnerable communities and how their impact will be measured.
The silence on the Presidential Youth Initiative meant to deal with high levels of youth unemployment and providing them with work experience is disappointing.
We welcome the allocation of R3.8 billion to strengthen the response to gender-based violence through the recruitment of more than 3,500 social workers, alongside R186 million for forensic and investigative capacity. These interventions have the potential to strengthen prevention, support survivors, and improve access to justice. However, the success of these allocations will depend on effective implementation, the timely deployment of personnel and adequate resources for the institutions responsible for protecting victims.
The allocation of R157.4 million to the Department of Women, Youth Persons with Disabilities must likewise translate into practical opportunities. Women, young people, and persons with disabilities need accessible skills development, meaningful economic participation, employment opportunities, and support for sustainable entrepreneurship.
The fundamental weakness of this MTBPS is that it remains too focused on stabilising the existing economic framework without presenting a sufficiently ambitious pathway towards inclusive growth, decent work, and the reduction of structural inequality.
SADTU believes that fiscal policy must actively support job creation, industrial development, stronger public infrastructure, quality public education, and the expansion of the state’s capacity to meet the needs of its people. A budget that prioritises debt indicators while neglecting the social and developmental crisis facing the country risks deepening the very inequalities that undermine long-term economic growth.
The government must stop treating investment in public servants and social services primarily as an expenditure to be contained. Properly funded education, healthcare, and social protection are essential investments in human development, economic productivity, and social stability.
South Africa does not need economic stability that leaves the majority behind. It needs an economy that works for its people, a public service equipped to serve them, and a budget that invests in their future.
We are looking forward to the Budget to be presented in 2027 with the hope that it will be more than another exercise in balancing the books. It must demonstrate a clear commitment to transforming the economy, strengthening public services, and restoring hope to millions of South Africans who continue to bear the burden of economic hardship.
ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat