ANC Parliament chief whip slams DA over budget impasse

News24

01-05-2025

As details of the budget impasse that led to the withdrawal of the VAT by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana last week continue to surface, the ANC has accused its government of national unity (GNU) partner, the DA, of using the issue to advance its selfish agenda.
The finance ministry announced the reversal of the proposed VAT increase on 24 April.
The ANC said that when the DA realised it was losing the political discussion, the party had to use the VAT fallout as a scapegoat to stay relevant.
On Wednesday, ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli said the DA's genuine concern was not the VAT increase but used it "because it's a contentious issue".
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri and Zuko Godlimpi, the deputy minister of trade, industry and competition, also attended the briefing at the party's headquarters, Luthuli House.
Ntuli told the media:
They had to reinsert themselves into a positive national conversation about the budget, about the ANC walking away from the poor, which is not the reality. We all know that there's no way poor South Africans can depend on the DA's policies to liberate them.
Ntuli said the DA also had major issues with passing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act and the NHI Act.
He said the party also lost the debate on its demand for the devolution of powers, as it wanted to be given to the Western Cape.
The DA, he added, had failed to have its member and Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen allocated more responsibilities and powers.
"And I'll tell you why they chose the VAT when they went to court. If they had succeeded in negotiating their way on the issues relating to the budget, they wouldn't have gone to court. If you look at that budget, there is money allocated to early childhood development, which is part of the implementation of the Bela Act, by the way. There is money allocated to the National Health Insurance in that budget," he said.
Ntuli added that what triggered the DA to go to court was the passing of the two Acts.
"Had they achieved that, there was going to be no need for them to go to court. Whether you look at it in terms of their policies or ideological orientation, we know what the DA stands for," he said.
On Sunday evening, the Western Cape High Court suspended Godongwana's 12 March announcement adjusting the VAT rate, "pending the passing of legislation regulating the VAT rate". The contentious VAT increase was due to be implemented on 1 May.
Ntuli said there was no way the DA could have been the genuine representative of the poor in the VAT context.
"But what they decided to do tactically was that because they did not succeed, they opted to take the contentious VAT issue and run with it because they've had setbacks along the way since the GNU started.
"They have to find a way to come back into the mainstream politics," said Ntuli.
He said the ANC and other political parties had agreed that a discussion must go ahead between Godongwana and Parliament's portfolio committee on finance after interventions to find a solution to the VAT issue.
He added:
Right from the onset, there was no ambiguity from the ANC; we put that position very firmly, both in Parliament and here at Luthuli House. You will remember that the DA was never about VAT in reality.
Ntuli still believed that the budget tabled by Godongwana in March was one of the best presented in the country in a long time. He said it was unfortunate that it could not be discussed rationally because of the contentious VAT issue.
"If you look at that budget in its totality, I would still argue it had the potential to take our country in the right direction," he said.
"And the argument that the ANC was a major proponent of a VAT increase is not necessarily factual. Immediately after the budget was presented, we conducted interviews. And the common response from the ANC was that we wanted to invite the nation into a constructive conversation about what is certainly a good budget for us, but we equally said in our comments we fully understood that many people are not happy with the VAT increase," he said.
He said that the ANC submitted its input to Godongwana.
"When the minister presented the budget, for instance, it was before the SA Revenue Service commissioner presented his numbers. And in terms of his numbers, he said to the public, we have collected by over R9 billion. And the first conversation that we had to do with the minister from the agency's point of view is that the VAT of 0.5% for this year was meant to raise about R13 billion," he said.
Ntuli said that because there was R9 billion, it meant that the major issue was finding the R4 billion budget shortfall.
He said:
All political parties in Parliament agreed about various interventions, strengthening institutions, fighting corruption, dealing with wastage and other interventions. We also agreed to improve the state capacity and to generate more resources, but equally to complement the investment meant to take place in terms of infrastructure.
Ntuli added that it was clear that the impasse would be resolved by the end of the 30-day consultation because there was unanimity in Parliament.