The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) alongside millions of highly indebted workers keenly awaits the South African Reserve Bank's Monetary and Policy Committee's meeting on the repo rate Thursday 29 May 2025.

Workers have struggled to cope with the rising costs of living, with electricity and transport prices far exceeding the overall inflation rate. All too often employers have resisted paying workers a living wage or ensuring their hard earned salaries keep pace with inflation.

Whilst the first phase of the two pot pension reforms initiated by COSATU has released over R44 billion into the pockets of more than 2.4 million workers, reports from the National Credit Regulator paint a depressing picture of the overwhelming majority of workers remaining heavily indebted.

Inflation has been continuously falling and is currently well below SARB's inflation target range. SARB has ample room to show compassion for the working class and to give the economy some badly needed TLC after a very difficult year, and the barrage of repo rate hikes done over the past three years.

It is critical that the SARB tomorrow stand with the working class tomorrow and decisively cut the repo rate by at least 50 basis points. This will provide invaluable relief to millions of households, help workers pay their debts and inject cash into an economy desperate for stimulus.

We cannot afford to continue suffocating an economy that has been stumbling along 1% growth for over a decade, more so with growth projections for 2025 cut from 1.9% to 1.4% due to the global tariffs and trade turmoil.