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Today’s GDP figures confirm what South Africans already feel in their daily lives: the economy is in crisis, growth is stagnant, and jobs remain scarce. A 0.6% growth rate is a warning sign that unless urgent action is taken, the country will continue to slide deeper into economic decline, and justifies the DA’s demands that the 2025/6 budget must be efficient, focused on jobs and growth, and must represent a departure from the past.

South Africans are getting poorer year after year, while past ANC governments refused to implement the critical pro-growth reforms needed to turn the tide. The GNU must do things differently and the DA has repeatedly put forward a clear plan to fix the economy. Today’s numbers prove that the GNU budget must prioritise jobs and growth above all else.

The ongoing dispute over the R58 billion in new expenditure proposals that the ANC wanted in the budget is a distraction from the real issue: unless we grow the economy much faster and spend public money far more efficiently, the budget crisis will repeat itself year after year—until there is simply no money left.

The DA expects that the GNU must agree to growth-focused economic reforms and a full spending review. Without these, South Africa has no economic future.

The DA will continue to drive reforms for a budget that puts growth, jobs, and fiscal responsibility at the centre of government’s agenda.

Issued by Dr Mark Burke MP - DA Spokesperson on Finance