EFF, MK Party call for Godongwana's head following VAT hike reversal

CAPE TOWN - As political parties scramble to take credit for the Finance Minister caving to pressure to can a planned value-added tax (VAT) hike, the two biggest parties outside of the Government of National Unity (GNU) are calling for his head.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said Enoch Godongwana’s budget was misguided, ill-conceived and reckless and he posed a threat to the country’s economic stability.

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, meanwhile, said the U-turn was a humiliating retreat for a manufactured crisis.

The EFF said attempts to initially introduce a two-percentage point VAT increase failed to appreciate the degree and depth of the country’s economic crisis.

By withdrawing the budget bills he tabled in March, the party said the finance minister had now fallen foul of his legal obligations to table a budget before or soon after the start of a new financial year.

EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said: "The EFF will consider the written out-of-court settlement proposed by the minister of finance, however, we maintain without a full withdrawal or reset of the budget process remains illegal and unconstitutional."

The MK Party, meanwhile, has reiterated its call for parliamentary sovereignty, saying people should not have decisions foisted upon them.

Spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said: "These lazy thinkers in the form of the GNU Cabinet cannot be trusted any further and should not be allowed to continue to lead in Cabinet."

The party said those taking credit for the VAT reversal have failed to explain the legal basis for undoing the budget currently before Parliament.

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