The Cry of the Xcluded, comprising several social movements and trade unions, will once again protest
on Budget Day, 22 February 2023. This we have done consistently since 2020, despite Covid 19
restrictions. We do so because the anti-poor budgets are destroying the working class and poor
communities. These budgets, the National Budget and the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement destroy jobs by destroying South Africa’s productive economy. Mass unemployment, where almost 13 million people are denied work and a decent livelihood, is the foundation on which an unequal South Africa is built.
Budget cuts to health, education, welfare, police and all the services that poor people depend on, have
created a wasteland. Our country is not just collapsing, it is hurtling towards the cliff face. The July 2021
riots were not the wake-up call for our ‘Alice in Wonderland’ government. Such eruptions of anger are
isolated incidents, for now in hundreds of communities around the country but will explode again as the
situation further worsens. The cost of living crisis, load shedding and the increase in electricity of nearly
20% makes this almost inevitable.
The attacks on public sector workers is an attack on the provision of public services and an attack on their unemployed family members. Women are compromised and made vulnerable to violence and exclusion. They must fill the gap of the retreating state, providing more care to their families and the broader society. They become the doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, cooks and cleaners – the ones who must pick up the pieces as our communities collapse.
We have had enough. We are calling on our people to rise up. Our uprising is not to loot and destroy. Our
call is for the people of our country to unite in solidarity and care. We are not rising up to attack other
vulnerable groups. We are not attacking members of the LGBTQI+ community, foreign nationals, or
people of different languages and skin colour. We are rising up as poor and working people regardless of
colour, language, religion and gender. As the Cry of the Xcluded we recognise all of us are struggling to
live, to have a home, to afford transport, electricity and to put bread on the table.
This February, when President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his useless State of the Nation Address and
when the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana announces another budget which steals from the poor
to give to the rich, we will be protesting. We will be making clear to the government that they have lost
touch with the people. The entire month of February will be a month of mass education and action. We
will hold speak-outs, teach-ins, protests and demonstrations. We want to create awareness, we want to
channel the anger of our people to where it belongs. And this is not a once-off process. For the rest of
2023 leading to 2024, we will be organising and mobilising for the Year of Mass Action campaign.
Here are some of our demands:
An end to budget cuts that hurt the Xcluded: Cutting the budget in a time of economic
stagnation will destroy the very tools and resources we need to jump-start the economy. This
requires a huge mobilization of state resources that will pump life back into our economy.
We call on the government to “fix Eskom”: We reject and condemn all those who wish to
privatise Eskom and who welcome its death spiral. We demand a new transparent and
accountable Eskom, free from corruption, that moves to generate 100% renewable energy at the
cheapest possible price. Many more households should be provided with Free Basic Electricity as
well.
A Basic Income Grant of R1500 per month for all unemployed and precarious workers who
earn below the national minimum wage: People are starving and without food, to end this, the
state should look to progressively introduce an unconditional universal basic income grant. This
basic income grant would boost the economy, creating demand for products and services, and
thus creating many jobs.
Invest in job-creating alternatives: Develop a low-carbon reindustrialization programme that
can create millions of jobs aimed at addressing climate change. Here we can invest in public
energy, public transport, housing, and transforming agriculture. This includes the production of
socially owned renewable energy and the manufacturing of solar PV and wind infrastructure. The
government has failed to produce sustainable job creation programmes and we believe that they
should look at alternative ideas including incorporating the Right2Work in the SA Constitution.
When we demand jobs, we are not referring to precarious work, we demand decent work, where
workers have security, stability, and dignity. The impact of precarious work on workers is
significant. It leaves workers vulnerable to exploitation, and it makes it difficult for them to plan
for their future and make ends meet.
Tax the rich!: Millions of South Africans go to bed hungry each week, while the rich siphon
billions of rands to tax safe havens through profit shifting and wage evasion. Research has shown
that halting profit shifting by transnational corporations would help to raise more than R100
billion in revenue each year. We also know that a small net wealth tax on the top 1% can raise
more than R140 billion annually. This is not even mentioning the billions lost to corruption each
year. Hence, we call on the government to stop the looting and to tax the rich who have become
even richer during the Covid-19 pandemic to address the deep inequalities and hunger in our
country.
We call on South Africans, the working class, employed and unemployed, to unite and demand tangible
solutions to our current economic crisis. It is deplorable that almost three decades into our democracy, the poor and the marginalised continue to live in inhumane conditions. The South African government
continues to fail to deliver on its promise of a better life for all. Neoliberal policies and systematic
corruption is crippling the country and ordinary South Africans are suffering.
Our country, blessed with so much potential and resources, should be a beacon of progress and
development for the entire continent. However, the harsh reality is that millions of our citizens are still
struggling to access basic services such as education, healthcare, and housing due to corruption, greed,
mismanagement, and a lack of political will.
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