Wednesday, 12 November 2025.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the 2025 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled by the Minister of Finance in the National Assembly. The MTBPS is yet another confirmation that the government under Cyril Ramaphosa is operating to unashamedly serve the interests of the white capitalist establishment, particularly through the continued privatisation of strategic public assets in energy, ports, logistics, and municipal services. The current crisis of poor economic growth, high unemployment, and rising crime will persist under this neoliberal coalition government.

The policy statement fails to appreciate the deep economic crisis confronting the poor and working-class people of South Africa, who are struggling daily to make ends meet under unbearable conditions of rising living costs. Prices of electricity, transport, education, and basic goods remain excessively high, while household debt has reached unsustainable levels. South Africa’s economy has stagnated for more than a decade and will continue to do so under the failed stewardship of the National Treasury. Its over-optimistic projection of 1.2% economic growth for 2025,revised down from 1.4% earlier this year, illustrates the extent to which Treasury’s modelling is out of touch with reality and blind to the social devastation caused by austerity.

Instead of recognising the structural decline in the economy, the Minister of Finance presents the MTBPS as a statement of hope, reform, and progress. Yet, the lived reality tells a different story. Only the private sector, particularly the financial sector and bondholders, stand to benefit from the privatisation of essential public services. Ordinary South Africans will face another year of economic stagnation and possibly below 0% growth, while global growth is projected at 3.2% and Sub-Saharan Africa at 4.1%.

We note and reject with contempt the misguided decision by the Minister of Finance to agree to the new 3% inflation targeting framework. When this policy was prematurely announced by the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the Minister himself correctly objected. His reversal under pressure from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan represents nothing less than the surrender of South Africa’s policy sovereignty to foreign financial interests.

The National Treasury’s attempt to downplay the consequences of this policy shift, claiming that the negative effects will be short term, reveals the extent of its capture by financial elites. For Treasury, the health of the economy is measured not by employment, production, or social welfare, but by the satisfaction of bondholders and private investors. This approach will make the cost of borrowing even higher and ensure that banks and financial institutions continue to record record profits in an economy that is otherwise collapsing.

The EFF rejects this policy direction and calls for a democratic, consultative, and developmental approach to monetary policy. South Africa’s economic and monetary frameworks must be aligned with the country’s long-term development objectives, particularly industrialisation, job creation, and the expansion of social services. The EFF reiterates its call for the nationalisation of the SARB and the adoption of a monetary policy framework that goes beyond narrow inflation targeting to include a clear developmental mandate.

We further note the continuation of the so-called “fiscal anchor,” which deepens austerity and perpetuates the hollowing out of the state. National Treasury continues to prioritise private capital participation in areas that should be reserved for the state to drive development. Instead of reasserting state capacity, Treasury is deliberately weakening public institutions to justify privatisation.

The MTBPS is silent on the urgent need to redirect domestic investment resources currently held by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). These massive funds, built from workers’ savings, could be strategically invested in municipal infrastructure to reduce electricity costs, improve local service delivery, and create sustainable jobs. Yet, Treasury remains captive to conservative financial orthodoxy, refusing to deploy these funds in a developmental manner.

Equally concerning is the silence on revising the local government equitable share formula. While municipalities are being pushed toward privatisation of water, electricity, and waste services, there is no acknowledgment of the structural underfunding crisis that prevents them from fulfilling their constitutional mandates. The MTBPS is therefore one-sided, designed to reduce fiscal risks for investors, while the people of South Africa continue to carry the unbearable burden of collapsing municipalities and rising service costs.

The government attempt to celebrate marginal improvements in unemployment is equally misleading. The so-called decline in unemployment rates hides the fact that the official rate of 31.9% is exactly the same as it was this time last year. Treasury and the Minister must stop manipulating statistics to manufacture progress where there is none. There is no meaningful job creation when youth unemployment remains very high, and when the few jobs added are mostly short-term, insecure, and underpaid.

The South African Revenue Service has failed to collect the additional revenue it promised would materialise if given more funding. Instead, we are now being told about new so-called “mega processes” that should have been anticipated when these resources were allocated. The fact that the Commissioner is reportedly preparing to leave before the end of the year further raises doubts about his commitment to the goals and undertakings made to Parliament and the people of South Africa.

SARS continues to complain about illicit cigarettes, yet the Border Management Authority recently told SCOPA that it lacks the capacity to carry out meaningful enforcement. The Ad Hoc Committee investigations have revealed deep-rooted corruption within the police and exposed how policing and surveillance have collapsed, leaving the state without the tools or technology to monitor what enters and exits the country. The narrow focus on cigarettes alone, while all sectors are implicated in illicit financial flows, is misleading and exposes the disingenuous posture of both the National Treasury and SARS.

The future of South Africa cannot and will not depend on policies that prioritise the private sector at the expense of the public good. The EFF believes that the only sustainable path forward lies in rebuilding municipalities, strengthening their capacity, and ensuring that they can deliver basic services without dependence on private profit motives. The state must reclaim its role as the primary driver of development, with an industrial strategy rooted in public investment, local production, and social ownership of key sectors.

A people-centred government must redirect resources toward public employment, infrastructure investment, and the revitalisation of rural and township economies, through a close coordination of fiscal and monetary policy. It must stop using “investor confidence” as an excuse for neglecting the poor. South Africa’s future depends on a strong developmental state, not on a captured National Treasury and Reserve Bank that defers to the dictates of financial markets.

The National Treasury will never lead South Africa to the promised land. It has become the single greatest obstacle to transformation, jobs, and industrial development. Something decisive must be done to restore the sovereignty of the state, rebuild the economy in the interests of the people, and end once and for all the neoliberal project that has failed our nation.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581