MEDIA RELEASE: SECTION27 IS DISAPPOINTED BY YET ANOTHER MEDIUM-TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT THAT FAILS TO CONSIDER THE HUMAN COSTS OF AUSTERITY The 2021 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) presented by new Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to Parliament on 11 November has once again affirmed government’s commitment to austerity budgeting. The deep Continue Reading
The Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) recently published a research paper on South Africa’s basic education budget. The position paper was written by BJC members, Equal Education (EE) and the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) focusing on budgetary challenges affecting the education sector that need to be addressed in the Medium Term Budget Continue Reading
OPPORTUNITY AT SECTION27 Researcher SECTION27 is a non-profit organisation that uses public interest law and advocacy to protect, promote and advance human rights and social justice. If you are passionate about human rights, self-motivated and would like to be part of a dynamic team working to challenge inequality and positively Continue Reading
Over 200 social movements, trade unions, civil society organisations and individuals call on Parliament to reject the unconstitutional 2021 Budget and uphold human rights.
Despite some promising developments, the 2021 budget reduces real term funding to basic education and healthcare sectors in the medium term.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important it is to invest in social programmes. Many of South Africa’s public services, including the public health system, remain underfunded, despite increased investment since democracy. This exacerbates high levels of inequality, now worsened by the lockdown measures to curb the spread of the Continue Reading
The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement’s outlook for the healthcare system 3 November 2020 – The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) delivered by the Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni on 28 October 2020 aims to cement austerity budgeting – cutting government spending to reduce debt – into the budget framework for Continue Reading
29 October 2020 Joint MTBPS media statement: No new money for schools, but SAA’s rescue plan equals almost a year’s worth of school infrastructure funding Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), delivered yesterday, is devastating for many social services including basic education. The MTBPS says that government Continue Reading
SECTION27 joins over 500 organisations & academics around the world calling on IMF to stop promoting austerity in the Coronavirus recovery period
25 June 2020 Government fails to live up to COVID-19 socio-economic relief promises, says BJC. The Supplementary Budget announced by Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni on 24 June 2020, including a revised fiscal framework and spending plans, reveal that only R36 billion of the much lauded R500 billion economic Continue Reading
Funding for socio-economic rights slashed in the 2020 Budget SECTION27 is concerned that the Minister of Finance has cut spending in the crucial areas of education and health in order to bail out state-owned enterprises and reduce public borrowing. He announced that “education infrastructure allocations are adjusted by R5.2 billion Continue Reading
25 February 2020 In the State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramaphosa emphasised the value of social compacts, yet he also announced that there will be reductions in expenditure. Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) worries that the President Ramaphosa’s notion of a social compact in the 2020 State of the Continue Reading