By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A mild drama ensued on Wednesday on the floor of the South African Parliament as the much-awaited 2025 Budget presentation by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, was postponed.
This is the first time in 30 years that the Budget Speech has been postponed in the Southern African country, amidst rumours of disagreements within the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The postponement of the budget presentation was announced by National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, who cited disagreement as the reason for the shift in date.
“While today we have been gathered here to have the Minister of Finance present the budget to the House, there has not been an agreement in terms of parties in the executive finding one another in proposals of the budget,” she said.
Speaker Didiza told lawmakers that budget proceedings had never been postponed like this in the three decades since the end of apartheid, announcing that March is the new date for the budget presentation.
“The Cabinet decided not to come and do a presentation of the budget and allow themselves enough time to re-look at the budget and come back to this House in March, at which time they will inform us.”
The African National Congress (ANC), which lost its parliamentary majority last year, will require the support of other parties to pass the 2025 budget.
A key partner in the coalition government, the white-dominated Democratic Alliance (DA), has said the postponement was due to its opposition to a 2% VAT increase contained in the budget.
The party accused Finance Minister Godongwana of failing to consult before the planned Budget Speech.
“The postponement of the Minister of Finance’s 2025/26 National Budget Speech today is a victory for the people of South Africa, as it prevents the implementation of a 2% VAT increase that would have broken the back of our economy,” the DA said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
“The postponement resulted from the DA’s resolute opposition to the ANC’s plan to hike VAT at a time when millions of South Africans are already suffering under a cost-of-living crisis,” the party added.
The proposal to increase VAT was intended to plug holes in the education budget and support social spending, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.
