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IOL News
29-04-2025
- Business
- IOL News
MK Party calls for Finance Minister Godongwana's resignation amid economic turmoil
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela. Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has joined the growing list of organisations calling for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's resignation. The party has also formally tabled a motion of no confidence against Godongwana in Parliament, citing his tenure marked by fiscal mismanagement, contempt for the poor, and loyalty to discredited neoliberal dogma. "South Africans deserve leadership that rejects austerity and market fundamentalism. They deserve a bold, caring, and people-driven economic future, one led by the MK Party," it stated. The party's call comes after the Western Cape High Court's decision to suspend the 'unlawful' VAT increase announced by the ANC and DA-led Government of National Unity (GNU). The MK Party is the latest party to call for his resignation after the EFF and the DA. It described the GNU's economic policies as an "austerity dictatorship" that has brutally imposed suffering on South Africans. In a statement, the party's spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela highlighted the failures of the GNU's Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), which it claims is a blueprint for mass impoverishment. The MK Party criticised the ERRP, saying it is built on savage austerity, anti-worker reforms, and stifling monetary policy that has destroyed any prospect of meaningful recovery. "The so-called 'differences' between the ANC and DA are pure theatre, a choreographed spectacle between ideological twins committed to deepening inequality and looting the country," Ndhlela said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading "The SARB has fuelled this assault through aggressive interest rate hikes, refusing to cut rates amid worsening economic hardship." According to the party, Godongwana's call for resignation comes amid a deepening economic crisis in South Africa. The country is facing high levels of unemployment, poverty, and inequality, with many citizens struggling to access basic services like electricity, water, and transport. The MK Party's call for Godongwana's resignation adds to the growing pressure on the Finance Minister to step down. EFF's president Julius Malema, on Monday called for Godongwana's resignation after the court's full bench set aside the adopted 2025 Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals and suspended the implementation of the 0.5 percentage point VAT increase which was set to come into effect on May 1. The EFF and the DA had approached the court to have the VAT increase announcement by Godongwana as well the adoption of the finance committees' report by both Houses set aside. After the matter was argued, the Finance Minister announced that the VAT increase would not be implemented, saying his legal team had settled the matter outside of court with the DA.
IOL News
29-04-2025
- Business
- IOL News
MK Party warns of deeper economic crisis amid VAT suspension
Slamming the GNU's economic agenda, the MK Party accuses the ANC and DA of deepening inequality and looting, while calling for people-centered policies and the resignation of Finance Minister Godongwana. Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has welcomed the Western Cape High Court's decision to suspend the Democratic Alliance (DA)- led government's planned increase in Value Added Tax (VAT), but warns that the ruling is merely a temporary fix in the face of what it describes as a deeper economic and governance crisis. MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela says the VAT suspension, while necessary, "addresses only a symptom of a deeper crisis" and accuses the so-called Government of National Unity (GNU) of pursuing a brutal program of austerity, privatisation, and anti-poor policies. At the centre of MK's critique is President Cyril Ramaphosa's Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), which the party calls a 'brutal blueprint for mass impoverishment.' Ndhlela said: 'Cloaked in technocratic language, the ERRP is a war against the poor, built on savage austerity, anti-worker reforms and suffocating monetary policy that has destroyed any prospect of meaningful recovery.' The MK Party dismissed perceived policy differences between the ANC and DA as 'pure theatre,' calling them 'ideological twins committed to deepening inequality and looting the country.' It also took aim at the South African Reserve Bank, accusing it of exacerbating the crisis through aggressive interest rate hikes that have ballooned the state's debt burden and further eroded fiscal space. Criticising the government's priorities, the party condemned ongoing plans to privatise key state assets, including Eskom, Transnet, and water boards, arguing these moves will deny millions of South Africans access to essential services and dismantle the developmental role of the state. Ndhlela warned that South Africa is 'on the brink of governance collapse,' citing the GNU's failure to lawfully adopt a budget for 2025/2026, which he said has plunged the economy into instability and tax chaos.
