BusinessLive reports that trade union federation Cosatu wants finance minister Tito Mboweni to significantly increase spending when he tables his supplementary budget in parliament on Wednesday.
The demand comes at a time when the government is experiencing severe fiscal constraints. The National Treasury expects the budget deficit to have grown to more than 14% for the current fiscal year. Cosatu wants Mboweni to announce a huge stimulus plan of not less than R1-trillion to rebuild the economy. “Anything less will not be able to stop an economic tsunami that is on the horizon. We can no longer accept an unemployment rate of 40% as normal, let alone one of more than 50%,” Cosatu’s parliamentary co-ordinator Matthew Paris stated. He added that stimulus funds for businesses must be conditional on them retaining and not retrenching workers. Moreover, incentives must be used to support businesses and industries which create new jobs. Cosatu also wants the Treasury to significantly reprioritise expenditure and shift funds to key departments in the front line in the fight against the Covid-19 virus. This includes money to the health department to hire additional health workers. The federation also believes that basic education needs more money. Parks added that Cosatu expected the government to honour the 2020 public service wage agreement.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lindiwe Tsobo at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page