Dumelang Saleshando has accused the government of abandoning key social commitments in the 2026 budget, arguing that young people, farmers and vulnerable households were offered little reassurance amid economic contraction.
Saleshando said the budget failed to address rising youth unemployment, growing food insecurity and mounting pressure on households as per-capita incomes decline. Growth projections, he said, fall far short of the ambitious job-creation promises made during the election campaign.
“This budget is an elegant bridge to nowhere,” Saleshando said, calling for a fundamental rethink of priorities.d recent procurement controls, Saleshando said reform efforts remain superficial.
“Young graduates are waiting,” the Leader of Opposition (LOO) said in his response to the Budget Speech. “This budget gives them no timeline and no certainty.”
He criticized the absence of concrete measures for tertiary students, temporary workers and struggling small businesses, calling the silence on these issues a breach of trust. At minimum, he said, the government owed citizens an acknowledgment of unmet promises.
Saleshando also questioned the sustainability of universal subsidies, arguing that blanket benefits disproportionately favor higher-income households while diluting support for those most in need. He cited pension schemes and agricultural subsidies that apply equally regardless of income.
“When everyone is subsidized, the vulnerable are crowded out,” he said.
Farmers facing disease outbreaks were urged to comply with control measures, but Saleshando said long-term support for agricultural resilience remained inadequate.
The LOO warned that prolonged economic hardship, combined with perceived unfairness, risks eroding the social contract between citizens and the state.
“This budget is an elegant bridge to nowhere,” Saleshando said, calling for a fundamental rethink of priorities.d recent procurement controls, Saleshando said reform efforts remain superficial.
“Washing the car does not fix a faulty engine,” he said, warning that without institutional reform, fiscal consolidation efforts will continue to falter.
