Budget 2023: Taking from the poor with R162 billion in expenditure cuts while breaking the President’s promises

The Institute for Economic Justice describes the 2023 National Budget as an 'anti-poor budget' that redistributes wealth from the poorest 80% to the richest 20%. The analysis highlights a R162 billion real decrease in non-interest expenditure over the medium term, with significant cuts to health, basic education, and social protection. It specifically criticizes the failure to protect the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant from inflation and its removal from the budget for 2024/25 and 2025/26. The document also critiques the conditional debt relief for Eskom, arguing that restrictions on new capacity investment favor private sector profit over energy affordability, and condemns subsidies for rooftop solar as benefiting only the wealthy.

• The 2023 National Budget implements a real decrease of 2.65% in non-interest expenditure over the medium term, totaling R162 billion less than if allocations had kept pace with inflation. This results in significant funding drops for key sectors: health is reduced by R47 billion, basic education by R39 billion, and social protection by R37 billion.
• The budget fails to uphold presidential promises regarding the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant; the grant remains at R350 despite inflation and is completely removed from the budget for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. The number of paid recipients fell from 10.4 million in March 2022 to 6.3 million in January 2023.
• The government is providing financial benefits to high-income earners and corporations, including a corporate income tax rate reduction to 27% for the year ending March 2023 and a 10% increase in the tax-free amount for retirement withdrawals.
• Debt relief for Eskom, totaling R254 billion (two thirds of its debt), is contingent on conditions that prohibit investment in new capacity, limiting Eskom to transmission and distribution. This is viewed as a strategy to shift capacity generation to the private sector, potentially increasing energy costs.
• The budget introduces subsidies for private renewable energy, including a 25% rebate for households (capped at R15,000) and a 125% rebate for businesses. The document argues these subsidies exacerbate energy inequality by benefiting the wealthy while jeopardizing Eskom's future revenue.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). Budget 2023: Taking from the poor with R162 billion in expenditure cuts while breaking the President’s promises. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-taking-from-the-poor-with-r162-billion-in-expenditure-cuts-while-breaking-the-presidents-promises/

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Budget 2023: Taking from the poor with R162 billion in expenditure cuts while breaking the President’s promises. 2023. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-taking-from-the-poor-with-r162-billion-in-expenditure-cuts-while-breaking-the-presidents-promises/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Budget 2023: Taking from the poor with R162 billion in expenditure cuts while breaking the President’s promises |date=23 February 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-taking-from-the-poor-with-r162-billion-in-expenditure-cuts-while-breaking-the-presidents-promises/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2023budget, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Budget 2023: Taking from the poor with R162 billion in expenditure cuts while breaking the President’s promises}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-taking-from-the-poor-with-r162-billion-in-expenditure-cuts-while-breaking-the-presidents-promises/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }