11 November 2025
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) calls on the Minister of Finance to deliver a Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday that speaks to the real conditions facing South African workers and their families. The statement must address the erosion of wages, the collapse of basic services, the high cost of living, and the deepening despair of millions of people who remain locked out of decent work and economic opportunity. FEDUSA, representing more than 600 000 workers across key sectors, expects the fiscal framework to reflect a clear break from austerity and a commitment to inclusive growth that places people, not just numbers, at the centre of economic recovery.
Workers are exhausted by promises of growth that never reach them. Every day, they face rising food prices, unaffordable transport, escalating municipal tariffs, and collapsing infrastructure that makes it harder to work, live and raise families with dignity. They see hospitals understaffed, schools under-resourced, and municipalities unable to provide even the most basic services. Yet year after year, budget cuts continue to target the very systems that sustain communities. This MTBPS must be different. FEDUSA expects a decisive shift toward a developmental agenda that prioritises jobs, protects real wages, rebuilds state capacity, and delivers tangible relief to workers and households.
The federation rejects the continued use of austerity as a tool for fiscal discipline. Austerity is not reform; it is retreat. It has weakened hospitals, hollowed out public administration, and worsened inequality. Fiscal consolidation without growth is self-defeating, and a budget that tightens spending while millions remain unemployed cannot be described as credible. FEDUSA calls for a bold, expansionary approach that channels resources into job creation, infrastructure renewal, and industrial policy that supports local production. Economic recovery must be rooted in the real economy; in the factories, classrooms, clinics, and transport systems where South Africans live and work.
Public servants remain the backbone of South Africa’s state capacity, yet they are too often portrayed as a cost rather than an asset. FEDUSA insists that the MTBPS must protect the public wage bill and honour existing agreements in full.
The federation further expects a strong emphasis on progressive tax reform. South Africans have carried the weight of the tax burden for too long while those with greater wealth escape fair contribution. FEDUSA calls for the introduction of a wealth tax, a windfall tax on super profits, and decisive action to close illicit financial flow loopholes. Fiscal justice must become the foundation of macroeconomic policy. The poor cannot continue to subsidise the rich through regressive taxes and underfunded public services.
Infrastructure investment must be placed at the heart of the recovery strategy. South Africa’s collapsing roads, rail, energy, and water systems are a daily source of frustration and loss for workers and businesses alike. FEDUSA expects the MTBPS to outline a credible, labour-intensive infrastructure plan that creates sustainable employment, particularly for young people and women, and stimulates local industries through public procurement and skills development. The focus must be on building state capacity, not on handing public assets to private interests under the guise of efficiency. Partnerships are welcome where they strengthen the state, not where they erode accountability.
FEDUSA further notes the progress of Operation Vulindlela in addressing structural constraints within critical sectors such as logistics, water, and energy. However, the federation remains concerned about the potential social costs of reform. Restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and parastatals must never come at the expense of workers. The drive for operational efficiency cannot justify retrenchments, outsourcing, or the erosion of collective bargaining rights. True reform must prioritise job security, fair labour practices, and sustainable employment. Workers in these entities have already endured years of uncertainty, and many have sacrificed through wage freezes, unpaid overtime, and declining benefits in the hope of institutional recovery. Their contribution cannot be rewarded with further instability.
FEDUSA demands that any restructuring of SOEs be transparent, consultative, and grounded in social dialogue. Labour must be meaningfully represented in all decision-making processes that affect employment, pensions, and workplace rights. The federation also urges government to align reform initiatives with industrial and employment policy, ensuring that SOEs remain catalysts for national development rather than vehicles for privatization or profit extraction.
FEDUSA also demands that the MTBPS provide clear direction on how South Africa will finance a just transition that protects workers and communities. The transition to a low-carbon economy must not reproduce inequality or displace workers without alternatives. The federation calls for publicly funded retraining programmes, new industry development in affected regions, and transparent use of international climate finance. South Africa’s transition must be both environmentally and socially just.
The crisis of the cost of living remains one of the greatest threats to social stability. Workers are trapped between stagnant wages and rising costs, unable to meet even basic household needs. FEDUSA expects targeted relief measures for low- and middle-income households, including transport subsidies, food security initiatives, and stronger social protection. A credible budget must make life easier for working families, not harder. The MTBPS must recognize that economic recovery cannot be measured in credit ratings or debt ratios, but in whether people can afford to feed their families, send their children to school, and live in safe, functioning communities.
This year’s MTBPS arrives at a time of deep fatigue and uncertainty. Workers are watching to see whether government will continue to protect financial markets or finally choose to invest in its people. FEDUSA expects a budget that restores hope, expands opportunity, and demonstrates that the state understands the daily pain of ordinary South Africans.
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