Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
1 April 2025 | 15:26 CAT
3-minute read

Image: YFM

The ANC has refused the DA’s demand that the two parties reach a settlement on economic reforms, which includes giving the DA shared control over the economic agenda. The DA had said it would only support the Budget if the ANC agreed to the request.

Political analysts suggest that the DA leveraged the proposed 0,5% VAT increase by Enoch Godongwana to gain influence on other issues with the ANC, such as the BELA and Expropriation Acts.

The DA has been accused of disingenuousness for using the VAT hike as an excuse, as the party is not known for advocating pro-poor policies.

“If you look at the DA’s outlook economically, you’ll find that they are not a pro-poor political party. Instead, they’re a party that advocates for a free market economy, which focuses more on liberalising the economy as well as a party that is pro-neoliberalism, which is totally against the working class,” political analyst Hlumelo Xaba said during an interview on Radio Islam International.

The issues between the ANC and DA have not only raised concerns about the stability of the GNU, but also the influence of politics on a critical issue such as the Budget, which plays an integral role in governance of the country and is allegedly being used as a tool to leverage more power.

It appears that the other minority parties that form the GNU are subtly divided into those that support the Budget and those that do not, with the ANC allegedly attempting to garner approval from opposition parties such as the EFF and MK.

“The ANC has also been trying to lobby other opposition parties such as the EFF and MK, whom I’ve said that the risk for them to vote with the ANC in passing this budget is too high because of the fact that they claim to represent a demographic of society that is pro-poor,” Xaba said, adding that the risk lies in the fact that the proposed budget does not favour the underprivileged.

Xaba also noted the role played by BOSA’s Mmusi Maimane, chairperson of the Standing Committee on Appropriation, and Rise Mzansi’s Songezo, leader of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. These committees, Xaba pointed out, “are very crucial in the passing of the budget”, with the appropriations committee responsible for rubber-stamping amounts allocated to various sectors.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with DA leader John Steenhuisen to negotiate over contentious issues related to the national budget and to try to rescue the Budget as well as the Government of National Unity (GNU) after previous talks had collapsed, continued into the early hours of this morning. However, the meeting was inconclusive, ending without an agreement.

A conclusion was meant to be reached before the joint meeting of Parliament’s finance committees, which was scheduled to discuss the fiscal framework. If they do not reach a conclusion, the budget may not pass, leading to negative impacts on the markets and potentially resulting in the collapse of the Government of National Unity (GNU). The next step involves Parliament’s joint finance committees considering the fiscal framework and adopting their report, which will then go to the National Assembly for a vote on Wednesday.

At the time of publication, a meeting of the joint finance committees was still underway.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Muallima Annisa Essack.