{"podcast":{"title":"Democracy Unplugged","slug":"democracy-unplugged-6911807","podcast_index_feed_id":6911807,"rss_url":"https://iono.fm/rss/chan/8572","website_url":"https://podcastparty.co.za/level-up-with-phumi-mashigo/","image_url":"https://cdn.iono.fm/files/p3631/logo_8572_20251217_100943_1400.jpeg","author":"Podcast Party","episode_count":150,"summary":"Democracy Unplugged brings together thought leaders, activists and influencers to untangle the threads of democratic principles, dissect current challenges, and envision what our future could look like. Join the conversation as our panels delve into current affairs, political dynamics and social issues.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T22:21:04.537110+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/democracy-unplugged-6911807"},"episode":{"title":"Inside SA's budget choices","slug":"inside-sa-s-budget-choices","published_at":"2026-02-19T13:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/democracy-unplugged-6911807/inside-sa-s-budget-choices","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/democracy-unplugged-6911807","url":"https://iono.fm/e/1647832","audio_url":"https://dl.iono.fm/epi/prov_3631/epi_1647832_medium.m4a?p=rss","summary":"Is South Africa’s national budget really working for our households? Phumi Mashigo examines what a truly community-centred national budget would look like, from food affordability and social grants to VAT increases, austerity, and fiscal anchors. This conversation is joined by Mervyn Abrahams, Programme coordinator at the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group; Dr Siphesihle Qange, Programme Manager at Seriti Institute; and Liso Mdutyana from Institute for Economic Justice. The Burning Platform","meta_description":"Is South Africa’s national budget really working for our households? Phumi Mashigo examines what a truly community-centred national budget would look like…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2642,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/democracy-unplugged-6911807/episodes/inside-sa-s-budget-choices/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/democracy-unplugged-6911807/inside-sa-s-budget-choices.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}