Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget proposal delivered in a much anticipated speech in parliament has been widely rejected.
It largely expected for opposition parties to reject the budget with their stated opposition to tax increases that include the poor but a last minute cabinet meeting was meant to secure consensus within the so called Government of National Unity but was clearly unsuccessful as major players such as the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front + have not just rejected the budget but are using it to campaign for votes and against the ANC which leads the coalition government.
Among opposition parties uMkhonto Wesizwe was the most scathing referring to the budget as disappointing and saying it would spell disaster for the country if implemented.
“It was a disappointing budget. We reject it in its entirety. The VAT increase is totally rejected, any increase in tax will hurt black people and that is totally unacceptable,” said MK Deputy President John Hlophe.
GNU partners DA and FF+ are running campaigns on Godongwana’s proposed budget saying it is proof the failure of ANC policies.
“The DA is against ANC’s VAT Budget. A VAT hike will make South Africans poorer and threaten the SA’s future. We cannot, in good conscience, support a Budget that fails to create jobs and grow the economy.
SA, the ANC has proposed a VAT increase, meaning higher food prices and a tougher life for us ALL! The DA rejects the ANC’s VAT hike—we will fight for more jobs and real economic growth,” said the DA in its ongoing campaign.
Freedom Front + was more unforgiving blaming the budget short shortfall on Black Economic Empowerment without explaining how the law would have done.
“Hundreds of billions of rands are lost due to the costs related to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), which compels government to pay more than market value for goods and services. Government and the people are exploited through the policy of BEE.
“Taxpayers, who are already overtaxed, should not be punished for the failures of the past, corruption, state capture and poor policy directions,” said FF+ MP Wouter Wessels.
Both the DA and Freedom Front + are rejecting the ANC’s transformation agenda in general preferring a market driven developmental patch commonly referred to as trickle down economics which places emphasis on growth with the hope that some of the money would eventually reach the poorest of the poor through job creation.
While it rejected the budget, particularly the VAT increase, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said it would lobby other political parties to ensure that there’s trade offs that may lead to an acceptable budget.
“We are going to the standing committee of Finance which is meeting on Friday, and we are going to table our recommendations of what needs to be done. There has to be trade offs, no one has a majority here so everything requires consensus,” said EFF Leader Julius Malema also indicating that the stalemate presents parliament to demonstrate that it is not just a forum for rubber-stamping executive decisions.
“Its been many years since the law was amended to give parliament the authority amend the budget, power it previously did not have, this is an opportunity for parliament to make use of that to amend the budget,” he said.
Unlike DA and FF+, the EFF agrees with the set priorities but said the money had to be raised from within the wealthy and not the poor.
“We agree that we need to make sure that the budget is balanced, we must ensure that revenue is made, and that the debt is reasonable also in terms of interest costs but we will not agree that all of those burdens of infrastructure that we agree with should be put on the shoulders of the poor,” he said.