19 September 2025
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) strongly condemns the decision of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to once again keep the repo rate unchanged at 7.00%, leaving the prime lending rate stuck at a suffocating 10.50%.
This conservative and unimaginative posture is nothing short of a betrayal of the working people of this country. South Africans are already suffocating under crushing debt, poverty wages, and escalating living costs – yet the MPC chooses to protect the interests of capital while abandoning the poor and the working class.
The facts are clear. Inflation has slowed to 3.3% in August from 3.5% in July, aided by lower food and fuel prices. The moment was ripe for a bold reduction in interest rates to inject life into the economy, ease household debt, and restore some dignity to millions of families. Instead, the SARB chose the path of inaction, tightening the noose around workers who are already forced to choose between feeding their families or paying creditors.
Even more scandalous is the reckless conduct of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), which has admitted to a staggering R54 billion error in Eskom’s revenue calculations – a blunder that will directly translate into higher electricity tariffs. Workers will once again pay the price for failures they did not cause. This is economic violence against the poor, sanctioned by institutions that claim independence while showing clear bias in favour of financial elites.
FEDUSA rejects the failed neoliberal dogma that sacrifices human dignity on the altar of “market confidence.” South Africa needs a developmental monetary policy that places people above profits, stimulates decent work, and protects households from being strangled by banks, Eskom, and the failures of the state.
FEDUSA will mobilise, organise, and amplify the voices of workers until the interests of the majority are prioritised over the greed of the few.
END.