Speaking to BuaNews on Wednesday ahead of the Budget Speech, Glen Ndlazi, 28, a self employed motor mechanic, said government must reduce tax as it makes people's lives difficult.
“Some people cannot even afford to buy food because its too expensive.”
Ndlazi said he would also like to see more money channelled through to education and health.
“Illiteracy in our communities are very high, this is because we cannot afford education, it's expensive.
“Many young people are roaming township streets doing nothing because their parents cannot afford to pay for their education not to mention at tertiary level,” Ndlazi said.
Regarding health, he said government must build more clinics and hospitals to prevent people from travelling long distances to health facilities.
The same sentiments were shared by Donna Maloka, 38, from Bronkhorstspruit in Mpumalanga, who said all people should be able access health facilities easily.
“Getting treatment these days is expensive especially if one does not have medical aid, so government must lower medical fees,” she said.
Speaking to BuaNews, taxi driver Kenneth Mthimunye, 40, also expressed concern over the continuously increasing petrol price saying government must intervene.
“People cannot afford taxis and they resort to using buses and trains and this makes our lives miserable,” said Mthimunye.
He said government can continue to increase the so called “sin-taxes” in the prices of cigarettes and alcohol prices as they are not important to him, adding that it instead makes people irresponsible.
He also hopes that the Finance Minister increases social grants for the elderly as according to him, in most instances they are not taken care of.
Earlier this year, the National Treasury invited all South Africans to send in their tips to Minister Manuel on what they think should be included in his Budget Speech.
The campaign - Tips for Trevor - is run throughout the year and the tips received assist the minister in understanding public sentiment on government's macro-economic policies before the Budget Speech.
According to the Treasury, over 600 tips dealing with a variety of economic issues ranging from tax, macro-economic policies, to social and light-hearted issues were received this year.
Article published courtesy of BuaNews
