The DA, along with other political parties including the Economic Freedom Fighters, uMkhonto weSizwe Party, and the African Transformation Movement, have declared their refusal to support the budget.

ANC Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula, accused the DA of using the budget process as a bargaining tool to renegotiate its role within the Government of National Unity (GNU).

"The DA seeks to use the budget process as leverage to renegotiate its role within the GNU, not because it is determined to advance an agenda that prioritises privilege over progress, which to us is blocking transformation," Mbalula stated.

Mbalula further claimed that the DA would have accepted the 0.5% VAT increase if the ANC had agreed to review labour laws and the recently passed Basic Education Law Amendment Act and the Expropriation Act. "We know that the DA would have accepted the 0.5% if we backtracked on transformation acts like the BELA Act, Expropriation Act, and the NHI. In this particular instance, we don't think that those are policy matters that you must use the budget to block transformation," he added.

--SABC/ChannelAfrica--