By Busi Bopela

Prior to the Treasury Department's decision to reverse the Value Added Tax (VAT) hike, The ANC and opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) had been at loggerheads over the fiscal framework, resulting in the future of the DA in the GNU being questioned. Mbalula says it's time for parties to pave a new way forward as to how they will work together in future.

Mbalula made these remarks at the party's headquarters as they briefed members of the media about the National budget and other issues of national interests. The ANC has welcomed the setting aside by the Western Cape of Parliament's approval of the fiscal framework and the subsequent suspension of the VAT increase, originally scheduled for the 1 May 2025. ANC Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula says the separation of powers has been thrust back into the spotlight.

"The ANC remains steadfast in asserting that the work of government must be shaped not by court rooms and media spectacle but through democratic consultation constructive consensus building and revolutionary responsibility to the people the political decision to reverse the vat increase was reached after substantive engagement between the ANC and 10 other parties in parliament all of whom demonstrated discipline, focus and patriotic clarity we salute the maturity shown in reaching this outcome," Mbalula said.

Mbalula is talking tough as his party gets down to the business, with its GNU partners, of crafting a third iteration of the budget after the Western Cape High Court's rejection of the fiscal framework passed on the 12th of April.

"We are going to have a GNU meeting with all parties in the GNU to reset the party how do we want to work and how do we want to arrange it these shenanigans that have been happening ministers doing as they wish in the GNU others ducking out of the country going the US and all of that and ministers doing what they do South Africans are looking at the executive they do not look at political parties fine and good you have your members that are in the executive and let me explain something to you this road is going to be tough," he said.

Meanwhile, the country's largest party rejects the notion that the DA is a champion of the poor, saving them from a dreaded ANC increase. ANC Chief Whip in the SA Parliament, Mdumiseni Ntuli says the blue party used the impasse after postponement of the February budget speech, to make political demands. Having failed to extract increased powers within the Treasury and at provincial level as well as a reduction in the allocation for the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) amongst others, the DA then elevated the vat increase for its narrow interest.

"There is no way they could have been the genuine representatives of the poor in the context of the VAT but what they decided to do tactically now that we do not succeed in what we wanted to do let’s take the contentious issue and run with it because remember they have had setbacks along the way since the GNU started  when these acts were signed they felt like  they are under the bus so now there is the budget and they must find a way of getting into the mainstream politics so it was quite clear that the only thing that could be  opportunistically exploited by them was to the vat and they did that," Ntuli said.

The ANC says there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the process leading up to debacle  around the fiscal framework. Zuko Godlimpi is the ANC's Economic Transformation Committee Chairperson.

"That approach of the national treasury coming to cabinet on the eve of presenting the budget speech is no longer workable so that is the one part that the ANC has agreed as to change completely I think the Minister of Finance also made that point  even for the one on the 21st of May, we will have to have a more extended period the budget consultation process will have     our argument for instance as the ANC is that the budget consultation process will have to have a longer lead period starting from the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, so once Treasury announces the medium term policy statement we have no choice but to start with the political process," Godlimpi said.

--SABC--