By Kouthar Sambo
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza announced that the Budget Speech proceedings had been postponed to 12 March 2025. This comes after tension around the increase of taxes flared up within the Government of National Unity (GNU).
“While the budget is tabled by the Minister of Finance, it requires the deliberations of the cabinet before it is tabled in the National Assembly,” said Finance Minister Enoch Gondongwana during a media address after the postponement of the National Budget speech.
Speaking on VOC’s PM Drive show on Wednesday, Dr. Azar Jammine, Director and Chief Economist at Econometrix, said the move is indicative of a “teething process within the GNU.”
“Clearly, there is a lot of tension within the GNU, as the Democratic Alliance (DA) made it clear before the budget that it was opposed to any hikes in VAT, but when they were presented with the budget, the DA saw there was a hike in VAT and opposed the budget,” explained Jammine.
“This meant that even if the budget was tabled, it may not be passed because the ruling party no longer has the majority in parliament, and it would be to get at least 10% of the other parties to support the hike in VAT,” he contextualised.
*Listen to the full interview here.
Photo: screenshot [online]
