DA demands billions in wasted spending be identified in mini-budget

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said that instead of signalling new spending plans, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana should use Tuesday’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to announce that he has identified billions in wasted spending.

While the mini-budget is not traditionally when new taxes are announced, DA MP Mark Burke said that his party does not want any such surprises in preparation for the 2026 budget.

The warning comes after a previous battle over tax proposals. The DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) went to court in March when the Finance Minister tabled a tax bill along with the National Budget that proposed raising the Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate.

The proposed increase was subsequently retracted in the third version of the budget, which was tabled belatedly in May.

Burke stressed that his party wants to see spending reviews which result in budget savings becoming a regular feature of the budgeting process.

"We are expecting no new tax increases, including being able to avoid bracket creep on the back of better revenue collection from SARS, and a minor commodities boom," Burke said. "We are looking forward to updates on reform and an elimination of ghost workers."