Budget 2025: The true state of the nation

The state of the nation address (SONA) attempted to paint a hopeful vision for South Africa, but promises alone will not build our nation.

The upcoming budget speech is the true test of the commitment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) to nation-building and human rights realisation, revealing whether its pledges will be backed by real investment or remain empty rhetoric.

However, if the National Treasury doubles down on a path of austerity at the cost of public investment, it risks deepening poverty and stalling progress.

South Africans deserve more than just promises; the budget must fund SONA commitments to lay the foundation for a just and prosperous nation.

After all, as Rudolf Goldscheid said: “The budget is the skeleton of the state stripped of all misleading ideologies.” 

Debt reduction must not mean social destruction

As human rights activists, our engagement with fiscal policy stems from a deep love for the people of this country and a commitment to securing their future by building a prosperous South Africa through a just and people-centred budget.

And while the budget could be a powerful lever for prosperity, the government’s approach to stabilising ballooning debt costs has too often come at the expense of its human rights obligations.

We agree that South Africa’s spiralling national debt must be addressed responsibly; failure to do so has diverted resources from critical public services.

As of the 2024/25 medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), our country spends more on debt interest (R388.9 billion) than on basic education (R323.3 billion) or healthcare (R274.0 billion), making debt-servicing the single largest budget item. 

Worse, while debt-servicing costs rose by R6.6 billion in the MTBPS (a 1.7% increase from the 2024 main budget), basic education faced a R1.2 billion cut (0.4% nominal cut), while healthcare received a mere 0.8% nominal increase, reaching R274 billion.

The more we spend on interest payments, the less remains for education, healthcare and social programmes, widening inequality and robbing future generations of opportunities for quality schooling, accessible healthcare and the economic participation needed to build a better life. 

National Treasury must stabilise debt without weakening the public sector or undermining essential services.

Fiscal consolidation cannot take precedence over reducing the quality of basic education for the children of our country.

Moreover, all budget decisions must undergo participatory human rights impact assessments, ensuring that even in economic hardship, budget 2025 truly serves our people. 

The budget must deliver quality schools and learning spaces

The SONA made bold proclamations for the education reform agenda, notably on access to early childhood development (ECD), strengthening foundation phase literacy and numeracy, and, of course, the implementation of the Bela Act.

While human rights organisations like ours welcome the latter’s progressive changes – particularly the introduction of compulsory Grade R – we stress that its success hinges on adequate funding for provincial education departments. 

In October, the department of basic education projected budget pressures of up to R176 billion by 2027/28 to accommodate compulsory Grade R.

Even if full funding for the BELA Act reforms is not immediately achievable, the budget must include initial allocations to support its rollout.

Sona 2025 rightly recognised foundation phase teachers as pivotal to improving literacy and numeracy. Yet, without proper funding, this commitment risks becoming another unfulfilled promise.

Last year, the Funza Lushaka Bursary – critical for training foundation phase teachers – was slashed by R397.9 million, weakening the very pipeline needed to realise this vision.

Budget 2025 must do better, not only reversing these cuts but also equipping the programme to attract, train and retain the educators essential to shaping our nation’s future. 

From broken schools to nation-building – will budget 2025 deliver?

Budget 2025 will find South Africa in a context where the basic education minister has committed to prioritising school infrastructure projects and eradicating all pit latrines by 2025.

While the SONA centred on major investment in infrastructure projects to support economic growth and better livelihoods, education infrastructure was not explicitly counted in the speech among the sectors referenced by the president.

We hope this does not indicate reduced investment in school infrastructure projects such as the eradication of pit latrines and replacing classrooms constructed of inappropriate materials.

Last October, our government reported only one new school built against a target of 30, and zero schools provided with water out of 100 planned.

Likely in response, the National Treasury scrapped the school infrastructure backlogs grant, effectively shifting infrastructure responsibility to provinces.

While we support merging interventions to improve quality infrastructure turnaround, this must not weaken accountability. 

The original purpose of this grant – systematically addressing school infrastructure deficits – remains unresolved.

Budget 2025 must ensure provinces have the capacity, oversight and accountability to deliver on this critical mandate. South Africans deserve sound fiscal decisions that translate into real progress for pupils. 

A budget that fails girls, fails our nation

Persistent underfunding of human rights sectors like education and teacher training disproportionately affects women, who shoulder the burden of unpaid care work and economic exclusion.

Despite years of promises, Treasury has repeatedly postponed implementing gender-responsive budgeting. Budget 2025 must break this cycle, not as an afterthought, but as a central strategy for an inclusive, opportunity-driven economy.

An investment in education, particularly for women and girls, is an investment in nation-building and securing futures.

The zero dropout campaign reported that rising teenage pregnancy rates remain a leading cause of dropout, particularly in marginalised communities.

Budget 2025 must recognise its power to address these challenges and build a nation where young girls can secure their futures.

Economic distress cannot be an excuse for cutting critical programmes, yet Treasury has historically reduced funding for initiatives like the HIV/Aids life skills grant, a programme that equips young girls with knowledge to navigate prevalent issues such as teenage pregnancy and sexual violence.

Without meaningful investment in schools, teachers and pupil support, South Africa cannot break the cycle of poverty, reduce inequality or equip future generations to build a stronger nation.

Budget 2025 is more than a financial statement; it is a test of the government’s commitment to upholding human rights and prioritising education.

It must place education at the heart of national priorities, not relegate it to the margins of austerity.

Lencoasa is the budget analyst at Section27 and steering committee member of the Budget Justice Coalition. Mashego is a candidate attorney at Section27.