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GOOD Statement by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General 20 February 2025 The GOOD party believes the decision to postpone yesterday's Budget speech was a mature decision by members of the Government of National Unity and will be in the best interests of the people. National Treasury, in consultation with Cabinet now has just less than three weeks to rework a Budget that serves the nation and does not unduly burden the poor. We call on the Treasury to allow enough time for sufficient consultation before tabling the Budget on the 12th of March. 

The hiking VAT from 15% to 17% to collect a relatively meagre R58 billion in additional revenue for 2025/26 is quite frankly absurd. Especially as the SA Revenue Service commissioner, Edward Kieswetter has admitted that the 2018 VAT hike did not give "radically" more revenue. Instead, government must focus its attention on collecting the almost R800 billion in uncollected tax revenue. We need to reduce the tax gap, including illicit financial flows. As GOOD, we hope the planned R3.5 billion will still be allocated to SARS to modernise ICT systems to enhance revenue collection and improve tax compliance well into the future. GOOD notes the proposed plan to extend the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) to end March 2026, with a budget allocation of R35.2 billion. 

There also seems to be a continued commitment to use the SRD grant as the basis for a more sustainable form of income support for unemployed people. However, even with the proposed above inflation increase for social grants, the SRD Grant is simple inadequate. By the State's own reckoning, the amount of money needed to feed an adult South African, known as the food poverty line, is R796 a month. 8 million South Africans are unemployed, a further 3.5 million are discouraged work seekers and 13 million are not economically active.

A Basic Income Grant of over R796, and closer to R1,000 per month is the only way to address the crisis of poverty our country is facing. Section 27 of the Constitution guarantees every South African adequate social security to meet their most basic needs. Revenue for a BIG should be collected from the country's most wealthy citizens. A once-off wealth tax will go a long way to undo the economic unbalance of apartheid. The top 1% of South Africa's wealthy class owns about 55% of the country's total wealth. 

Increasing the tax burden on working and middle-class people is not an option, as they're already struggling. There is also an argument to be made that those who receive financial assistance from the state, will spend money within the economy, further boosting development and employment. Real GDP growth is forecasted at 0.8 percent in 2024 and over the medium term growth is forecast to average 1.8 percent. This is dismal, more needs to be done to urgently address economic growth. We look forward to the new regulations for public-private partnerships (PPPs) taking effect on 1 June 2025. We hope the below R2 billion exemption for some Treasury approvals, will accelerate development, create jobs and stimulate the economy. 

However, the State cannot continue to spread its resources so thinly that the impact is barely noticeable. Instead, it needs to implement a zero- budget approach and make hard budgetary choices. We need to cut wasteful and unimpactful expenditure. To achieve a developmental state we must balance the economy and social development. All citizens must be actively involved in economic development and must be supported if they're unable to due to personal circumstances or because economic activity doesn't provide an opportunity for them. Citizen participation is at the epicenter of development and social cohesion.

Issued by the GOOD Party