Final push for budget deal: 'It's still a grim image at this point' – analyst

702 and CapeTalk's Africa Melane interviews Hlumelo Xaba, a political analyst.

Listen below:

As Parliament prepares for a crucial budget vote, negotiations between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) have reached a critical juncture.

DA leader John Steenhuisen is set to announce this morning whether his party will support the national budget, which includes a proposed 0.5 percent increase in value-added tax (VAT) starting on 1 May.

However, political analyst Xaba cautions that 'it's still a grim image at this point'.

He describes the current political landscape in South Africa as highly unpredictable.

Xaba suggests that one possible factor influencing the DA's decision is their potential role in preventing the ANC from forming a coalition with the EFF and MK.

He notes that if the ANC were to partner with the EFF and MK, the DA's relationship with the ANC would have to come to an end.

"By the look of things, should the deal have been struck, it would be a deal that is struck based on what the DA had mentioned a number of times – that they went into a GNU with the ANC to save it."

- Hlumelo Xaba, political analyst

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