POLITICS - Concerns over the future of the Government of National Unity (GNU) have eased after ‘constructive’ talks between the ANC and the DA — the two largest parties in the coalition — were held over the weekend.
The GNU, formed in June after national elections produced no outright winner, has been viewed by experts and markets as a stabilising force in a volatile global environment.
The Witness reports that tension mounted in recent weeks over the DA’s opposition to the 2025 Budget, sparking fears that the GNU could unravel if talks failed.
However, statements issued by both parties on Saturday indicated progress.
DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille, who led her party’s delegation, said: “Both sides spoke respectfully yet frankly about the need to resolve the impasse over the budget and to enhance co-operation between the two parties in the context of the government of national unity.
“The DA reiterated our position that a VAT increase is unaffordable without meaningful reform that will increase economic growth and create jobs.
“The DA is committed to finding solutions in the best interests of the people of South Africa, both in relation to the budget and to strengthen the GNU.”
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri described the meeting as ‘collegial’.
The ANC and the high-level DA delegation reflected on the Budget impasse and what the parties might do to resolve it in the interest of national unity and stability in the country.
“South Africa must come first. As leaders, we owe it to the people of this country to rise above narrow political interests and work together in the spirit of unity and shared progress,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
While the ANC held meetings with several parties throughout the week — including those outside the GNU — Bhengu-Motsiri said the meeting with DA went beyond the budget.
“It extended in the sense that we are GNU partners,” she said.
Other parties the ANC met included the EFF and ActionSA.
Parliament recently approved ActionSA’s proposal that National Treasury be given 30 days to identify alternative revenue sources instead of implementing a 0.5% VAT increase.
However, the EFF said its meeting with the ANC should not be viewed as support for any efforts to reverse the VAT increase.
“The EFF wants to make it categorically clear that we are under no illusion that there is any legislative possibility of reversing the VAT increases… This is simply not practical, realistic or legislatively permissible.”
Yesterday afternoon, ANC was expected to meet Freedom Front Plus, a GNU partner that also voted against the budget.
Meanwhile, a Sunday Times report claimed that the ANC was likely to drop its insistence on the VAT hike.
“The VAT thing… is not going to pass. The minister of finance is under pressure now to… kick it into touch or take it out completely. That is where things are now,” a senior ANC leader told the publication.
Another ANC leader, however, told the publication there was no ‘appetite’ to relook the fiscal framework to remove the VAT increase.
The VAT increase is going ahead. That train has left the station. The only people we are having a conversation about the reversal of this thing is Action SA; everyone else has accepted that it’s going ahead.
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