As DA readies for VAT court challenge, it insists that hike is anti-poor
JOHANNESBURG - As the Democratic Alliance (DA) prepares to make its submissions for an application in the Western Cape High Court to stop the value-added tax (VAT) increase, it remains emphatic that the hike is anti-poor.
The court will on Tuesday morning hear oral arguments on the DA and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)'s application to interdict the implementation of a 0.5 percentage point increase to value-added tax.
Both parties allege there were some violations in parliamentary procedures during the passing of the fiscal framework, which includes a VAT hike.
However, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana filed an opposing affidavit disputing this, saying the increase will come into effect on 1 May.
The DA's Mark Burke spoke outside court on Tuesday morning.
"That will lead to further poverty as a result of taking money from people who can't afford it and giving it to people who don't know what to do with it. We are opposed to a bulldozing budget that will lead to more South Africans wondering why their house values have gone down for another year in a row. We are opposed to a bullying budget that will force young people to realise they will be poorer than their parents."
Burke said that while the DA was confident of winning the legal fight, he said that stopping any VAT increase would require political will from all represented parties in Parliament.
"We realise a court victory alone will not bring the change that we need. In the end, politicians will have to pierce their pipe dream plans and their outdated ideology has to go and confront the problem facing South Africans on the ability to afford to live. I ask whoever is making the decisions at the ANC, under whatever Soviet sand they have stuck themselves into, to simply answer this: How many ears does one party need to hear our people crying and how many times can you just turn your head away pretending you can't see?"
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