Cosatu calls for bold budget

STIMULUS PLAN: FEDERATION ASKS FOR ANOTHER R1 TRILLION TO SAVE JOBS, BOOST ECONOMY

The February budget had been rendered irrelevant by the pandemic.

The country’s largest trade union federation, Cosatu, has asked for an additional R1 trillion stimulus package for the country to address job losses, avoid economic depression and fight Covid-19.

It said Finance Minister Tito Mboweni “must now table a new, reprioritised and bold budget” if the country is to survive the virus and avoid an economic depression and raging unemployment. The February budget had been rendered irrelevant by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The president’s previous announcement of R500 billion worth of economic relief was welcomed. It must now be accompanied by a bold R1 trillion-plus stimulus plan if we are to save jobs and the economy,” said Cosatu parliamentary co-ordinator Matthew Parks.

In a submission to the parliamentary appropriations standing committee in Cape Town, Cosatu said the stimulus funding for companies must be conditional upon job retention and incentivised for job creation.

“Essential economic infrastructure must be prioritised for investments, especially ports, rail, energy, water, health and education,” Parks said

On outstanding wage increase agreement – an issue that seemed to separate the government and public sector unions – the federation said the government must honour the 2020 public service wage agreement. It said the government must properly pay the essential services workers who were risking their lives in the fight against Covid-19.

“The existing appropriations to departments must be overhauled,” Parks said.

Picture: EPA-EFE People eat and drink at their tables in a night club transformed into a restaurant as the sanitary measures still discourage the usual clubbing experience, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday. The country has taken its third step to gradually loosen measures implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.