Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Velenkosini Hlabisa has clarified the party’s acceptance of the half percentage point VAT increase proposed in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget speech.
Parliament is yet to vote on the budget.
Speaking to SABC political editor Mzwandile Mbeje at the party’s 50th birthday celebrations in Ulundi, Hlabisa says although the IFP and the African National Congress (ANC) both accepted the VAT increase, the party is not supporting the ANC and is simply following its own logic.
“Now to us, if you increase social grants for elderly people, children grant, the orphans grant, you cushion the 0.5%. We agreed on the condition that the 0.5% is not permanent. It’s going to be one year. If things don’t go well, it can only be two years, but not three years. So now, this is a view of the IFP which goes together with the ANC, but we are not supporting the ANC.”
