Participants participating in the Standing Committee on Appropriations’ public hearings asserted that a national budget must work for ordinary people, not just look good on paper. This was the clear message from Durban residents who packed a public hearing in Westville, demanding that the national budget address their daily crises of housing, electricity, and scholar transport.
The Standing Committee on Appropriations wrapped up its public hearing on the Division of Revenue in Westville, in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Committee members said they were satisfied with the quality of submissions they received from residents, who spoke openly about how the national budget affects their everyday lives.
Committee chairperson Dr Mmusi Maimane stressed that public hearings are not just tick-box exercises. “This is part of Parliament’s participatory democracy,” he said.
“We know budget language can be technical and hard to follow. But through these public participation processes, Parliament works to simplify things so people can understand what’s being proposed. Every person who comes to a public hearing becomes a public representative for that day. They have the right to be heard, even if they don’t use the formal language of the Bill. Their views matter because the budget touches everything – schools, roads, housing.”
The hearing drew a wide range of participants, including members of Abahlali Basemjondolo, the Budget Justice Coalition, teachers and other interested stakeholders from around the Durban area.
One clear message ran through almost all the submissions: the budget must put people first. Participants said the money government collects nationally needs to trickle down to ordinary people on the ground. They stressed that the budget must also consider people who leave rural areas and move to cities looking for work. Speakers accused municipalities of failing to use their budget allocations properly. They said critical problems like housing, electricity and scholar transport are not being addressed.
Ms Nomkhosi Sibisi from Abahlali Basemjondolo was among those who raised the scholar transport issue. She said funding remains inadequate, leaving many children with no choice but to walk for long hours to reach school each day.
Mr Bongani Xezwi from the Budget Justice Coalition pointed to another barrier. “People on the ground still struggle to fully understand the budget,” he said. “Even when the Minister of Finance delivers the national budget speech, the language is still too technical. It excludes grassroots people who are most affected by how money is spent or not spent.” Mr Xezwi also said he was also a participant at the first committee public hearing to be held outside Cape Town. He expressed his wishes that their inputs from that inaugural public hearing were considered in the final committee report.
Another participant, Mr Bheki Mathonsi, a teacher by profession, said the division of nationally raised revenue felt like “sugar-coating a divided cake”. “As long as some people have land and others have none, as long as some have jobs and others don’t, as long as a few are rich while many are poor, the budget will fail to unite us,” he said. “People cannot sustain themselves because they have no land to produce food. How can a budget fix that if it doesn't start with the basics?”
Dr Maimane acknowledged that the committee still needs more input from people with disabilities. “We cannot budget properly if we don’t hear from all sections of society,” he said. Dr Maimane was moved by a participant who spoke on behalf of people with albinism who said it was difficult for them to get the proper sunscreen with high protection that they need.
The committee will now pull together all the submissions received during the public participation process into a comprehensive report. These views will shape the committee’s discussions on the Bill.
Jabulani Majozi
19 March 2026
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