‘Tightrope’ budget hopes to quell student protesters’ fees demands
protest during Gordhan’s Statement yesterday.
In a video shot and posted online by UCT drama graduate Ameera Conrad, who also co-wrote and co-directed The
Fall, a play about last year’s student protests, police can be seen hurling stun grenades at protesters.
“We were doing nothing, we were literally walking around,” Conrad says to the camera. “There’s more police on this side,” she says, turning the camera to the visitors’ entrance to the parliamentary precinct.
“There’s literally police everywhere.” She suddenly screams “stun!” as a grenade goes off a few metres away from her, dangerously close to another student protester who holds his hands above his head.
Another grenade goes off as the students run for cover. Conrad runs away, the sounds of stun grenades going off around her. “They’re stun grenading us from both sides,” she says to the camera, “the back and the front of us.”
Speaking to the Cape Argus afterwards, Conrad said the police opened fire without provocation. “It was peaceful. We were doing nothing. They just opened fire.”
There were some protesters who had armed themselves with bricks, rocks and other missiles, said Conrad, but she and another student managed to dissuade them from fighting back. “Fortunately, we persuaded them not to retaliate.” She also said police had goaded the protesters.
“An older white man called us baboons, that’s not what you say to a tense crowd. Students tried to go for him, but myself and another two students made sure no one harmed him.”
Some protesters fashioned a cardboard coffin with a portrait of Nzimande on the lid. UCT student leader Sinawo Thambo yesterday addressed students as Gordhan collected their memorandum of demands ahead of his speech. The memorandum of demands called on Gordhan and Nzimande to introduce a corporate tax and a wealth and education tax to be paid by the wealthy and industries listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as a means to fund free, quality education by the beginning of the new year.
During Gordhan’s speech, he told Parliament the government would continue to cut spending over the next few years. He said R26bn would be reduced in public spending in the next two years, and R43bn additional taxes would be raised over the same period. However, he did not identify areas of tax increases.
Economic growth was also stunted, with the National Treasury revising its projections for this year. “The MTBPS revises our growth expectation for the South African economy to 0.5percent for the 2016 calendar year, somewhat lower than the February estimates of 0.9 percent,” he said. Growth is expected to rise to 1.7percent next year, he said.
Political reaction to the speech was divided. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said everything was in line with ANC policies. DA MP David Maynier said they were disappointed with the budget as there were no concrete plans on policy certainty and structural reforms in the economy. IFP chief whip Narend Singh said Gordhan walked a tightrope in the MTBPS.