The MK Party has launched a scathing critique of the Finance Minister’s 2026 Budget Speech, with the party’s acting parliamentary leader questioning the credibility of the government’s economic forecasts and accusing the treasury of prioritizing fiscal ratios over the plight of ordinary South Africans.
In an interview shortly after the budget presentation, Des van Rooyen, the MK Party’s acting parliamentary leader, expressed deep skepticism regarding the growth projections underpinning the minister’s fiscal plan. During his speech, the Finance Minister projected economic growth of 1.6% for 2026, an improvement from the 1.4% estimated for 2025.
Van Rooyen argued that these figures are unreliable, pointing to a pattern of inaccurate forecasting. “The backdrop of any reliable budget is proper projections,” he said. “We have been raising this matter with the minister for the past three years, that you will never get our budget properly if your projections are ill-informed.”
He detailed the discrepancy in recent forecasts, stating, “In 2024, he projected the growth of our economy to be at 1.1%. In 2025, he projected another 1.4%. Now he’s projecting 1.6%. It’s baffling as to what informs these projections because they always get these projections wrong. They haven’t been realized since 2024, the birth of this GNU government.”
When asked if he believed the inaccurate projections were deliberate, Van Rooyen suggested the issue was systemic rather than intentional. He characterized the budget as an exercise disconnected from reality. “Look, this is more of an exercise of balancing the book more than addressing the plight of our people,” he asserted.
Van Rooyen pivoted sharply to the social impact of the slow-growth environment, emphasizing the government’s failure to address unemployment. “Our people want employment now, and we only realize employment out of a growing economy. Our economy is not growing. It’s growing slow, but our population is growing fast. So, as a result, our people are forever pushed into the poverty trap.”
He criticized the government’s focus on fiscal indicators, suggesting that such metrics are meaningless to citizens who are struggling. “Our people don’t want this physical ratios of primary supplies or maybe what they usually refer to as ‘stabilization’. Our people want to hear how their lives are going to be improved. How are they going to be taken from the poverty trap? How are they going to get jobs? How are they going to be part of the economy of their country? Because, as we speak now, the disparities are very, very clear.”
The interview concluded with the host acknowledging Van Rooyen’s stance and looking forward to the official debate on the Finance Minister’s budget speech. The MK Party’s rejection sets the stage for a contentious parliamentary debate on the fiscal framework, echoing the party’s previous opposition to budget policies, which it has consistently labeled as “anti-poor”.