DA steadfast in rejecting Godongwana's budget, calls it a 'pseudo budget'
The party also said it wouldn’t be a mere rubber stamp as a member of the Government of National Unity (GNU), saying the African National Congress (ANC) needs to be reminded that it lost its majority status.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered the national budget for 2025 in the National Assembly on 12 March 2025. Picture: Phando Jikelo/Parliament
CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has continued voicing its rejection of the budget, calling it a "pseudo budget" that doesn’t even have majority support.
The party also said it wouldn’t be a mere rubber stamp as a member of the Government of National Unity (GNU), saying the African National Congress (ANC) needs to be reminded that it lost its majority status.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, meanwhile, has accused the DA of politicising the budget and compromising the National Treasury’s independence.
The DA has held further engagements on the budget and its implications during a panel discussion between its Members of Parliament (MPs), including Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen.
Sarupen said the budget and its proposed value-added tax (VAT) hike does not resolve the fundamental problems in the economy.
"It doesn’t resolve the fundamental problems in the economy. It’s business as usual and business as usual is not good enough. Unemployment has gone up from 22% to 33% in the last 15 years or so."
DA finance spokesperson, Mike Burke, rejected the budget, saying it was unpopular.
"It’s more like a pseudo budget than an actual budget, primarily because it doesn’t have majority support in Parliament."
Godongwana addressed a budget breakfast earlier on Thursday, where he slammed the DA for politicising the budget while being a member of the GNU.