Cosatu on Tuesday called for the 2015/16 budget to implement radical economic transformation.

“The second phase of transformations should be about radical economic transformation,” Congress of SA Trade Unions spokesman Patrick Craven said.

“This calls for the implementation of the economic demands of the Freedom Charter which puts people at the centre of economic development.”

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene will present his 2015/16 budget in Parliament on Wednesday.

The 2013 and 2014 budgets and medium-term budget policy statements had revealed a more brutal reality for the working class, Craven said.

“The massive reduction in the budget deficit from 4.1 percent in 2014 to 2.5 percent by 2017 is achieved through real spending cuts, which can only cause the economy to further stagnate.”

Cosatu called for a number of government interventions to address unemployment, poverty, and inequality.

These included strategic nationalisation, state ownership and a new mandate to the National Planning Commission to bring national development in line with the proposed radical economic shift.

Cosatu called for comprehensive social security and land reform, and measures to ensure food security.

Tax reform suggestions included a solidarity tax which would cap the growth earnings of the top 10 percent and accelerate the earnings of the bottom 10 percent; and an increase in secondary tax on companies to encourage re-investment and job creation. SAPA