Stuart Bracking News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

“This… is not an austerity budget. This is NOT an austerity budget. This IS NOT an austerity budget.” These were the words Finance Minister Tito Mboweni chanted to the South African public last week during his presentation of the 2021 Budget Review. However, despite his insistence that austerity was not being pursued, the Budget included severe cuts to social spending on programmes such as education and health. Budget 2021 is undeniably an austerity budget. 
Civil society organisations have raised concerns over the catastrophic impact this will have on the lives and futures of South Africans. On 5 March 2021, economist Michael Sachs, as acting chairperson of the Fiscal and Finance Commission, published a supplementary comment on the Budget that echoes these concerns – that the State has failed to properly consider the Budget’s impact on the realisation of constitutionally protected socioeconomic rights.  ....

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