Parties split ahead of third Budget Speech attempt by Godongwana

The DA says it’s hoping for a case of third time lucky when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers his Budget Speech on Wednesday. The first Budget Speech on the 19th of February was cancelled a few minutes before the address after partners in the Government of National Unity rejected the proposed VAT hike.

A second version, tabled on the 12th of March, was also rejected by some parties, including the DA.

The party’s Willie Aucamp says he hopes for the best on Wednesday.

“We know and we believe we are not going to have any VAT increase or any other unreasonable tax increases. Because the South Africans just can’t afford that. We must do a lot to improve infrastructure spending, and I think that is what we will see in this Budget. If we spend money in the right places, from building roads, improving our ports and road infrastructure, on bringing better medical services to the people, improving hospitals, building schools … those are all places where we should spend our money, which we will. And we will improve the lives of all South Africans if we create jobs,” says Aucamp.

WATCH: Budget 2025 | Third budget being crafted ahead of Wednesday

EFF MP Chumani Matiwane foresees another disaster with a Budget that will not benefit the poor and the struggling working class.

“The third attempt of the Budget will be a betrayal of the people of SA. Then the government is afraid to act against big businesses by introducing the means of augmenting the Budget, through the introduction of the wealth tax, by introducing corporate tax. Instead, they are going to pursue an austerity Budget. That will only lead to social debt because they will cut spending on social services like public health and security, which is policing and education. So, it will just be a disaster for the working class and the poor,” says Matiwane.