Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is not fazed by critics of his 2026 budget speech, saying those who considered it “neoliberal” lack an appreciation for the tough balance the budget proposals had to strike.
Godongwana tabled his budget in a joint sitting of parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday. The speech presented relief for taxpayers for the first time in two years, with inflation-linked increases in personal income tax and no new tax proposals.
It also proposed consolidated government expenditure of R2.67-trillion, including R164.1bn on economic regulation and infrastructure, R45.8bn on industrialisation and exports and R1.58-trillion on social services.
Speaking at a post-budget breakfast in Cape Town on Thursday morning, Godongwana said critics, including unions, took issue with his budget, calling it neoliberal and an inadequate response to the cost-of-living crisis facing households.
“Our critics, again, even on that point, are saying we are neoliberal. But they won’t call China or Vietnam neoliberal. Those countries underwent massive reforms to achieve the levels of growth that they have today.”
Godongwana recalled his days as secretary-general of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa in 1993-97, saying that he never shied away from calling then-finance minister Trevor Manuel “neoliberal” for his economic policies.
Our critics, again, even on that point, are saying we are neoliberal. But they won’t call China or Vietnam neoliberal. Those countries underwent massive reforms to achieve the levels of growth that they have today.
— Enoch Godongwana, fFinance minister
“I used to call Trevor Manuel a neoliberal back when he was the finance minister. I used to drink Heineken then. I have since realised that people who call others ‘neoliberal’ have no responsibility at all.”
Cosatu parliamentary co-ordinator Matthew Parks said the ANC-aligned labour federation is extremely disappointed in the “lacklustre” budget and medium-term expenditure framework.
While appreciating that the budget includes some progressive and important allocations Cosatu campaigned for, the federation says the overall package fails to respond decisively to the fundamental crises facing the working class and the economy.
These include a 41.1% unemployment rate, economic growth far below the 3% needed to create jobs, struggling public and municipal services and state-owned enterprises, entrenched poverty and inequality, and endemic crime and corruption.
He said the budget is focused on balancing the books, not on aggressively kick-starting economic growth or tackling unemployment.
South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the federation rejects the budget as a consolidation framework that entrenches austerity under the language of stability and credibility.
“The minister celebrates narrowing deficits, stabilising debt ratios and rising primary surpluses. But for the working class, the unemployed, and communities facing collapsing services, this budget does not represent renewal; it represents continuity of a contractionary fiscal path.”
He said Saftu calls for the suspension of primary surplus targeting during a mass unemployment crisis, progressive wealth and corporate tax reform, and aggressive technological and legislative enforcement against illicit trade and illicit financial flows.
Saftu also demanded immediate filling of critical public sector vacancies, large-scale public employment and industrial expansion anchored in localisation, public developmental financing of infrastructure, and the establishment of a permanent basic income guarantee.
The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) said while the 2026 budget stabilises public finances, avoids new tax burdens and protects core social spending while introducing structural reforms, it does not yet rise to the scale of the unemployment emergency.
“Austerity’s legacy has left deep scars. Even reasonable allocations cannot fully close the gap created by years of underinvestment and service decline.
“Fedusa will continue to push for labour-intensive industrial expansion, sustainable and transparent social security reform, professional and corruption-free municipalities, stronger enforcement against illicit financial flows and decent work at the centre of economic policy.”
The federation said South Africans should not measure success in debt ratios but in jobs, growth and functioning services.
The country most certainly cannot stabilise its way out of unemployment but must grow its way out of it, the federation said.
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