By Doreen Mokgolo
- MKP says the budget will not create enough jobs for the huge number of unemployed youth.
- The party wants a wealth tax and says fuel hikes will make food and transport too expensive.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has rejected the new national budget, saying it will hurt millions of poor South Africans.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana added a fuel tax to the budget last month. MKP leaders say this will push up the price of food and transport, making life even harder for the poor.
The budget will be debated and voted on in Parliament on Wednesday. Before the vote, MKP members spoke to journalists in Cape Town.
Desmond van Royen, who sits on Parliament’s finance committee, said: “The country has not had an approved budget for 71 days because the minister failed to do his job properly.”
He said Parliament should have punished Godongwana for “badly managing” the budget. He also said the government’s plan does not deal with South Africa’s job crisis.
“Our economy only creates 249,000 jobs a year, but 768,000 people enter the job market,” said van Royen.
He said the fuel price increase will make poor people suffer the most.
“The budget is an attack on the poor. The government is out of touch with what people are going through,” he said.
The MKP has sent its own budget ideas to Parliament. These include spending money on public infrastructure like roads and buildings, helping industries that can create more jobs, adding a wealth tax, and using extra money from the Unemployment Insurance Fund and government pension funds to save the economy.
At the same time, the MKP is still finalising its list of 50 Members of Parliament.
Party leader Jacob Zuma recently said that former general secretary Floyd Shivambu would join the MKP caucus in Parliament. But on Wednesday, party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela Nxamulo said Shivambu’s name was not on the list sent to Parliament.
It is believed the party is still deciding whether Shivambu will take up a seat in Parliament.
Pictured above: MKP leaders.
Image source: MKP
