MK threatens to bring SA 'to a standstill' if VAT increased

JOHANNESBURG - The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has threatened to "bring the country to a standstill" if value-added tax (VAT) is increased. 

Hundreds of the party’s supporters marched to the National Treasury and South African Reserve Bank (SARB) offices in Pretoria.

Ahead of the Budget Speech on Wednesday, the country’s official opposition party says it won't allow the Government of National Unity (GNU) to increase the already high cost of living.

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The MK Party has in its ranks two members currently on trial for instigating the July 2021 unrest - Bonginkosi Khanyile and Duduzile Zuma. 

At the march on Monday, the party said it would use every avenue available to it to stop any increases on value-added tax.

MK parliamentary chief whip, Mzwanele Manyi: "We will ensure that we go to the picket lines. We will ensure that we bring the country to a standstill. We will ensure there are mass protests across the country to reject this VAT (increase) because when we talk to them there in Parliament, they think we are playing games."

With less than two days until the Budget Speech, it's still unclear whether parties in the GNU have found consensus.