/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

South Africa’s Government of National Unity must respond to the delegation of apartheid apologists currying favour with like-minded occupants of President Donald Trump’s White House by passing a pro-poor budget next month. 

The alleged murderous intent of Black South Africans against Afrikaners that the Solidarity Movement is peddling in Washington is a continuation of a more than  hundred year struggle that began in the early 1900s to protect White jobs in the gold mines. 

Although constituting just 7% of South Africa’s population today, 31 years after apartheid White citizens remain radically disproportionately better-off than Black citizens by all socio-economic metrics: Schools with majority White scholars are better resourced, there is less unemployment among Whites who generally hold more favourable positions, and most productive land remains in the hands of Whites, as does ownership of listed companies.   

The Solidarity Movement, which includes the Solidarity Trade Union, Afriforum, and various cultural, farming and media organisations, among others – and whose members form the spine of DA and FF+ support – sees its role as defending the relative privilege its people accrued under apartheid. 

In their world, Black citizens must “get over” apartheid and compete for seats at the table, without the need for a societal reset, redress, or redistribution.    

Emboldened by the democratic government’s woeful performance in narrowing inequality, holding apartheid-era perpetrators of human rights violations accountable, and their use of the courts to protect minority rights, members and supporters of the movement feel entitled to their apartheid engineered privilege, and see no need for humility.   

Political parties that established the Government of National Unity, including the DA and FF+, are obliged by the Statement of Intent they signed to effect socio-economic transformation and improve the lives of the poor. 

A government’s intentions are best expressed through the budgets it approves. 

The budget that couldn’t be delivered 10 days ago included some progressive policies to balance the competing necessities for economic growth and post-apartheid reform. The budget was rejected because the GNU partners baulked at raising the extra cash the fiscus requires by hiking VAT.   

The rejection of the budget has inadvertently created the opportunity for the GNU to demonstrate its commitment to socio-economic justice by adopting the principle that those who can afford to pay must be asked to do so. This approach could be adopted in two weeks by lowering the cap on tax deductible retirement contributions which is presently too generous to richer South Africans. 

This could be followed in the 2026/27 budget with the imposition of a wealth tax aimed at the wealthiest 1% of South Africans. Various modalities have been proposed including one that proposes taxing net wealth above R3.6m, which would cover more than 80% of debt-service costs and about 60% of all expenditures on social protection.   

The Minister of Finance must take this opportunity to defend the values of the Constitutional Democracy against those in Washington and Centurion – and Nkandla, for that matter – who would rather see it fail. 

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary General