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Deputy Finance Minister Masondo

Deputy Finance Minister Sarupen

Finance Minister Godongwana now has two deputy ministers. On 3 July 2024, ANC’s David Masondo and DA’s Ashor Sarupen were officially appointed as Deputy Finance Ministers. Will the new deputies help ensure Minister Godongwana makes decisions that put the people first?

The new deputy ministers are our chance to push progressive measures forward, such as increasing social grants, and implementing the Basic Income Grant (BIG). With their positions as deputy ministers, they have the power and the responsibility to steer Minister Godongwana towards the direction of protecting the marginalised majority.

Send the ministers a direct message to demand that they prioritise economic justice.

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Dear Deputy Finance Ministers Masondo and Sarupen,

We, the undersigned, welcome you as the new Deputy Finance Ministers. For years, we have been engaging Finance Minister Godongwa to stop his austerity budgets and support interventions that help put food on the table for millions, such as social grants, including the R370 SRD Grant. Minister Godongwana has issued budget cuts that have affected essential public services.

We, the undersigned, call on you to:

1. Increase all social grants

For many years, social grants have helped millions of households in Mzansi put food on the table. As the most unequal country in the world, the majority in Mzansi have little to no income and continue to rely on social grants to survive.

We fully support the DA's commitment to increasing the child support grant and call on both of you, as deputy ministers, to take progressive measures to ensure that Finance Minister Godongwana increases all social grants by R500.

2. Increase the SRD grant to match the food poverty line

In his 2024 budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana increased the SRD from R350 to R370 [1]. The increase of R20 is nowhere near enough to cover the cost of living, which has skyrocketed since the SRD was introduced in 2020.

We call on you to increase the SRD grant to match the Food Poverty Line, which is currently R760.

3. Expand the R370 SRD Grant into a Basic Income Grant (BIG)

Your respective parties support a Basic Income Grant, and now is the time to prepare for its implementation within two years.

We call on you to commit to supporting the expansion and implementation of the SRD grant into a permanent BIG for those aged 18 to 59 with little to no income, valued at the upper-bound poverty line of R1558. Over 320,000 people have signed the petition in support of the BIG.

4. Continue funding short-term work opportunities such as the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI).

5. Tax the greedy rich

The greedy millionaires will not starve if they pay a little more tax.

- Increase Personal Income Tax for those earning over R1 million annually from 1 April 2025.
- Introduce a permanent annual net wealth tax at a higher rate of 3% for those with a wealth of more than R3.8 million, 7% for those with a wealth of more than R30 million and 9% for those with a wealth of more than R146 million.
- Implement additional measures to address tax evasion and illicit financial flows by individuals and companies. We also call on you to stop big businesses from bullying the government and publicly commit to ending closed-door meetings between the government and big businesses.

The high cost of living has left millions unable to afford basic necessities. We call on you to commit to the above demands and take progressive action to ensure that Minister Godongwana makes financial decisions that favour the marginalised majority.

[1] The R20 increase in Social Relief of Distress grant is a ‘slap in the face’ – #PayTheGrants activist, Naledi Sikhakhane for Daily Maverick, 14 March 2024.

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