The Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) strongly condemns South Africa’s 2025 National Budget, presented by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on May 21, 2025, as a flawed plan that jeopardizes the Western Cape’s prosperity and risks SA’s buoyancy to weather global storms. The budget’s reliance on unsustainable debt, economic missteps, and centralized control threatens our region’s potential and highlights the urgent need for Cape Independence.
The budget’s revised GDP growth of 1.4% for 2025, down from 1.9%, reflects a weak response to global trade tensions and domestic logistical failures. Debt, projected at 77.4% of GDP, consumes R1.3 trillion over three years - R1.2 billion daily - starving critical services like healthcare and education, which are already strained in the Western Cape. The VAT reversal, while sparing consumers, slashes R61.9 billion in revenue, forcing spending cuts that limit infrastructure and service investments vital to our region’s trade-driven economy.
Centralized fiscal policies continue to drain the Western Cape’s resources to prop up a failing national system. The R2.4 trillion for provinces and R552.7 billion for municipalities over the medium term lack flexibility to address our unique needs, such as tailored infrastructure or efficient service delivery. Promises of R37.5 billion in savings through expenditure reviews ring hollow, given ongoing corruption and inefficiencies, with only R8 billion recovered from state capture cases.
Dr. Joan Swart, CIAG spokesperson, stated: “This budget shackles the Western Cape to a sinking national economy. Its debt burden and failure to empower regions stifle our potential. Independence is essential to control our finances, invest in our priorities, and deliver the prosperity our people deserve.”
The CIAG demands fiscal autonomy to allow the Western Cape to retain its tax revenues and address local challenges effectively. Without such reforms, we will push for a referendum on Cape Independence to secure a future free from national mismanagement. This budget underscores the need for urgent change—Cape Independence is the only path to a thriving, self-determined Western Cape.
