Cabinet set to hold second special meeting to discuss budget speech

CAPE TOWN - The second special Cabinet meeting to discuss the budget fallout is set to take place on Monday to give parties another opportunity to make submissions.
 
Last week, Cabinet members held the first special meeting to try to find a consensus on contentious proposals contained in the budget, such as the value-added tax (VAT) increase.
 
But the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it’s sticking to its position in rejecting any tax increases.
 
The first Government of National Unity (GNU) budget had to be postponed in February in an unprecedented move as parties roundly rejected the VAT increase proposal.
 
Parties continue to differ over the revised budget by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, which according to the DA proposes a smaller VAT increase than the original two percentage points.
 
At a post-Cabinet briefing last week, Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said more submissions would be made at Monday’s meeting.
 
“There’s a special Cabinet (next week Monday). It’s part of that process to finalise our part as Cabinet and our inputs as Cabinet to allow the minister of finance to do his part.”
 
But the DA's finance spokesperson, Mike Burke, said it’s a “shame” that the African National Congress (ANC) was still willing to risk the country’s economic stability “to force a tone-deaf 0.75% VAT increase down the throats of South Africans”.
 
“Just as the ANC refused to listen to objections from its coalition partners in the lead-up to its failed February budget, the ANC now refuses to cut the fat. Instead, the formerly 'pro-poor' ANC continues with its campaign to increase VAT,” said Burke.
 
Burke said the DA refuses to be “held hostage or intimidated” by the ANC’s “blatant threat” to approach the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to pass what it calls a “vat-based budget”.