Despite the ongoing budget consultations, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced that its leadership will attend the 0.5% Value-Added Tax (VAT) increase court hearing with its supporters this week.
The party’s urgent court application to interdict the VAT hike will be heard in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.
The VAT hike is scheduled to come into effect on May 1 as it was announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana earlier this month.
According to the DA, the hike was an unjustified burden on already struggling South African families hence they approached the courts.
🎥 | Watch live on Tuesday as DA leadership stands with supporters at the Western Cape High Court, where our case to stop the VAT hike will be heard, before it impacts struggling South Africans on 1 May.
🗓️Date: 22 April
🕗Time: 08h15 pic.twitter.com/D5EDnW6h5V
The party contended that the increase would further escalate the cost of living, disproportionately affecting the poor and vulnerable.
The DA’s legal action comes after the Parliament passed the 2025 national budget after the ANC managed to get support from other parties for the budget.
ActionSA, IFP, PA, GOOD Party, RiseMzansi, UDM, PAC, AlJamah, and BOSA voted in favour of the budget.
While ATM, EFF, MK Party, Freedom Front Plus (FF+), and ACDP, including the DA, voted against the adoption of the fiscal framework.
The ANC has so far refused to accede to the DA's demands of having a say on the country's economic agenda.
This comes after the DA had written a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, accepting the VAT increase but only if the ANC scrapped the Expropriation Act.
The proposed VAT increase has sparked significant backlash from opposition parties, who argue it disproportionately affects low-income households.
The ANC has engaged in several talks with other parties in and out of the Government of National Unity (GNU) to try and find solutions to the VAT hike.
IOL Politics