The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) presented its submission on the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement’s Division of Revenue Amendment (DORA) Bill allocating additional funding to provincial and local government to Parliament’s Standing Committee: Appropriations today.

COSATU remains deeply concerned with government’s overall neo-liberal approach to the Budget. Workers have borne the brunt of austerity cuts to frontline public services that the working class and economy depend upon. We are extremely distressed by the state of local government where mismanagement, corruption, underfunding and failures to collect rates have seen workers unpaid and basic services deteriorate. 

Whilst we do not believe that the DORA Bill goes far enough to ensure that public services are sufficiently resourced or that local government is set on the path to recovery, there are positive supplementary allocations allocated by the African National Congress led government that COSATU welcomes, in particular:

• R454 million to repair schools damaged by natural disasters in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
• R150 million for road repairs in the Eastern Cape and R303 million for public transport eThekwini.
• R72 million for the National Health Insurance Indirect Grant and revitalising health facilities as well as R86 million for building hospitals and clinics in the Western Cape, Free State and Limpopo.
• R2.06 billion to boost municipal electricity and water services in the metros and R496 million to repair municipal infrastructure damaged by natural disasters in the Eastern Cape.
• R450 million to expand Public Employment Stimulus programmes in the metros.

The state of local government and the increasing number of dysfunctional municipalities is extremely alarming.  Whilst appreciating initial interventions to stabilise these municipalities, they are not enough given the extent of the crises facing workers and local communities.  More must be done and much faster to turn local government around, in particular to ensure municipal staff are paid, municipal debt is collected, basic services are restored and infrastructure maintained.

COSATU will continue to engage government on a much bolder, more aggressive set of interventions to be included in the 2026/27 Budget to rebuild public and municipal services, stimulate inclusive economic growth, slash unemployment, and tackle poverty, inequality, crime and corruption. Investments in public and municipal services must be viewed as a necessary investment in economic growth and decent work.

Issued by COSATU

Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)

Mobile: 082 785 0687

Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za