Wednesday, 7 May 2025.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is deeply concerned by the proposed programme of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCoF) to process the 2025 Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals. In its current form, the programme amounts to nothing more than malicious compliance with the constitutional requirement for parliamentary oversight. It seeks to tick boxes procedurally while undermining the very spirit of meaningful public engagement, fiscal accountability, and legislative integrity.

This is no ordinary budget. The 2025 Budget comes at a time of deepening economic crisis — rising unemployment, widespread poverty, and unprecedented public distrust in government institutions. It must be treated with the seriousness it demands. Parliament cannot afford to rubber-stamp proposals that will shape the lives of millions without sufficient scrutiny. The legitimacy of this process depends not on how quickly it is completed, but on how transparently, inclusively, and democratically it is conducted.

We are particularly alarmed by the treatment of public hearings as a procedural inconvenience. In previous engagements, stakeholders were given as little as two minutes to present. Civil society organisations, trade unions, and researchers expressed dismay, telling us directly that Parliament’s conduct undermines the principle of public participation. This cannot happen again. Public hearings must be allocated full days, and the voices of the people must not only be heard but engaged with meaningfully.

The EFF has made clear proposals to ensure that this process does not become another example of elite technocratic budgeting without accountability. We have proposed that the Parliamentary Budget Office and Financial and Fiscal Commission each be given separate days to present, with adequate time for Members to engage. Public hearings must span at least two full days. All Committee meetings must be conducted physically, with only stakeholders allowed to present virtually.

Most importantly, National Treasury must be granted no fewer than four full days to prepare written responses, followed by a full-day meeting to consider the final Committee report. Anything less would replicate the past, where Treasury responded with dismissiveness and evasions.

ISSUED BY THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Leigh-Ann Mathys (National Spokesperson) 082 304 7572

Thato Lebyane (Media Enquiries) 078 304 7572