The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) has come out, slamming the budget tabled by Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba at the National Assembly on Wednesday, 21 February.

In a statement released on Thursday, the PAC chided Gigaba for an “uninspiring” speech, saying the speech lacked “an element of hope for the majority of poor and landlessness African people in occupied Azania [South Africa].”

The PAC also took aim at aspects of the budget, decrying the proposed 1 percent increase in Value-Added-Tax (VAT), and labelling it “a sign of a war waged towards the poor citizens of our country. We are finding it absurd and laughable that the poor should be held liable for irresponsible, reckless corruption committed by filthy rich politicians and tenderpreneurs.”

The party argues that greater focus should have been placed on rehabilitating state-owned enterprise (SOEs).

To this point, PAC Spokesperson, Kenneth Mokgatlhe says, “It is public knowledge that our SOEs are collectively at an ICU, with suggestions by liberal opportunists to commercialise and privatise power supplier, Eskom. These opportunist liberals want SAA [South African Airways] also to be sold to private hands. PRASA on the other hand, is in a rubbish state and is incapable of transporting people to their respective workplaces, or students to places of learning. We are now being told that government must sell its stake in Telkom, so that they are able to save other entities.”

The PAC argues the budget was “drafted and codified for the rich,” and says it will be asking Parliament “to conduct a thorough investigation before they could adopt or bless this anti-poor budget.”

“We are not going to allow a situation when the poor are continuously attacked through capitalist-oriented policies, which seek to take away everything from our people,” says Mokgatlhe.