Note to editors: The following statement was delivered today by BOSA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP, at Parliament, Cape Town at the launch of the party’s “Budget to the People” initiative.
In one week from today, on Wednesday 21 May 2025, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will for the third time attempt to begin the process of passing South Africa’s National Budget by delivering the 2025 budget speech and tabling the fiscal framework before Parliament.
The last two attempts to table the national budget have been marred by political infighting and deadlock within the Government of National Unity (GNU), paralysing Parliament while citizens continue to suffer under economic stagnation, rampant unemployment, and failing basic services.
South Africans are bearing the brunt of a political system that prioritises factional battles over delivering for the people. It is time to listen to citizens on what they want to be included in the budget.
In light of this, Build One South Africa (BOSA) has today begun a “Budget to the People” initiative, a national mobilisation effort to bring the voices of South Africans to the centre of the 2025 National Budget process.
BOSA is turning to South Africans with one simple but powerful question: “What do YOU want to see in the national budget?”
With growing national frustration over a government that continues to put politics before people, it is time for greater citizen input into this process.
The primary portal for South Africans to make their inputs, submissions and suggestions will be online and can be accessed here.
In addition, through town halls, community meetings, digital surveys, and direct engagement, the sprint campaign will gather and amplify the priorities of citizens to ensure their voices are heard where it matters most.
BOSA will conduct site visits to police stations to assess officer-to-citizen ratios, overcrowded schools to meet with headmasters and teachers, public hospitals to speak to nurses and healthcare workers, and small business hubs to understand how delayed payments and bureaucratic red tape are choking entrepreneurship.
Leaders and activists will be on the ground across the country to engage directly with frontline workers and community members who experience the effects of government decisions every day.
During the initiative, BOSA will be engaging citizens on its Growth Charter, which is a bold, evidence-based blueprint for how South Africa can grow the economy at 5% per year. The Growth Charter outlines eight key reforms focused on creating jobs, supporting small businesses, fixing the energy crisis, and restoring good governance.
“For too long, national budgets have served the connected first, and the citizens second,” said Maimane. “This budget is not just a financial document. It tells us who and what the government truly values. Our ‘Budget to the People’ initiative is about shifting that power back to the people of South Africa.”
The ultimate goal is for these ground-level consultations to inform a people-driven response to the national budget, one rooted in lived experience.
We will collate the feedback received and publicly release a People’s Budget Summary on the eve of the Budget Speech, highlighting the top demands and priorities identified by citizens. These will include calls for job creation, SMME support, education investment, safer communities and urgent action to provide basic services.
BOSA encourages all South Africans to participate by visiting its website, attending local Budget Dialogue events, and joining the conversation on social media.
Roger Solomons – BOSA Acting Spokesperson – 072 299 3551