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With just two days before the budget speech, there seems to be no harmony within parties forming the Government of National Unity (GNU). In his first attempt to deliver the budget speech, the Minister of Finance Mr Enoch Godongwana was forced to withdraw and ask for a postponement.
To many, this may be a sign of the widening cracks in the GNU which has to prove itself to its naysayers that it can live beyond the given expiry date of two years. Godongwana is facing serous pushback from opposition parties who say the 2% VAT increase on the cards is a deal breaker.
The budget speech was postponed to 12 March 2025, with the hope that parties will find each other and at least agree on something. But to date, no agreement has been reached, the parties are still at variance with each other, or with the ANC rather; instead, the situation has worsened.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), which is part of the GNU has gone on a public campaigning calling on citizens to reject the 2% VAT increase; furthermore, the party has positioned itself as the eighth wonder of the world for stopping and postponement the budget speech.
uMkhotho weSizwe Party (MKP) has today, 10 March 2025, taken to the streets marching to treasury to hand over a memorandum rejecting the 2% increase in VAT saying there are many other avenues that treasury can get money.
The party is also unhappy with the handling of iThala Bank in KwaZulu-Natal and is calling on treasury to protect the financial institution from being liquidated. The MKP says treasury has legislations at their disposal that can avoid the closure of iThala Bank that served the marginalised for many years.
A number of political parties have expressed unhappiness with the 2% VAT increase, with just two days to go, will there be a resolution to this challenge or will South Africa experience another postponement?
The business community also expressed concern regarding the first postponement, citing that it will affect investor confidence in the GNU and the country itself, political instability is a liability and repulsive for the markets and affects the Rand negatively.
