Top Stories
19 minutes ago
Budget 2023 | Institute says budget is anti-poor
The Institute for Economic Justice has accused Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana of going rogue by delivering an anti-poor budget.
JOHANNESBURG - The Institute for Economic Justice has accused Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana of going rogue by delivering an anti-poor budget.
It says he also didn't deliver on promises made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address.
The president promised the Social Relief of Distress Grant, as with other relief grants, would be protected from inflation.
Yet the SRD remains unchanged at R350 a month despite the rising cost of living.
The institute says almost three percent less will be spent on service delivery and on programmes benefiting the poor, while taxpayers -- who are the wealthiest 20 percent of South Africans - will receive real benefits.
"There are 3,8 million people who live beyond the food poverty line and so the support that is given to them is really not clear in this budget," said the institute's Zimbali Mncube.