South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi described the increase of the repo rate by 50 basis points today as unsustainable as it put more pressure on the already strained household and plunging people into poverty.
The governor of the reserve bank, Lesetja Kganyago, hiked the repo rate yesterday by 50 basis points to 8.25% and took the current prime lending rate to 11.75%.
Vavi said Saftu was ‘disgusted’ that indeed the monetary policy will continue to push South Africans even deeper into a crisis since the so-called normaliation process started in November 2021 there has been an accumulative 201% of increases or more than 400 basis points of interest rate hikes.
“It is not sustainable and that is why you are seeing more and more people wandering in the streets of Pretoria who are unemployed. Black people have become the face of unemployment, poverty and inequality thanks to the policies that are being pursued by the government.
“They should accept that every time they increase the interest rate they are saying to the entrepreneurs and the working class who are so reliant on credit that they shouldn’t be borrowing more money,” he added
SAFTU staged a picket outside the Reserve Bank in Tshwane on Thursday calling on the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates.
