A special cabinet meeting is scheduled for Monday when members of the executive will discuss the postponement of the budget to March 12 over the disputed proposal to hike VAT by two percentage points.
It is the first in a series of scheduled meetings among leaders of government of national unity (GNU) parties aimed at resolving the impasse that led to the unprecedented budget postponement last week.
Draft documents of the 2025/26 Budget Review show the Treasury was preparing to hike VAT to 17% from 15% to fund a big increase in spending on front-line services. This was rejected by GNU leaders, setting the stage for a political showdown in the coalition government.
The DA has claimed a political victory in the GNU because without it the ANC lacks a majority in either parliament or the coalition government to pass the budget.
The cabinet meeting on Monday will be preceded by a meeting of the ANC’s national working committee (NWC), a body responsible for the daily running of the party. The NWC is expected to discuss the budget postponement to March 12 and the final reconfiguration of the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal leadership.
Stage 6 power cuts that were implemented on Sunday are expected to be suspended by week’s end. Eskom’s second round of load-shedding in February has raised fears this signals the end of the power utility’s streak of more than 400 days without load-shedding. Stage 6 was implemented after multiple unit failures at Majuba Power Station followed by further unit trips at Medupi and Camden.
The Group of Twenty (G20) high-level meetings continue this week. Finance ministers and central bankers are scheduled to gather over two days from Wednesday in Cape Town. The discussions will focus on global economic and financial policy issues, including the state of the world’s economy and international financial system stability and trade, as well as investment and development financing, the Treasury said in draft budget documents.
Last week’s foreign ministers’ meeting went ahead without US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who had been replaced by deputy mission chief Dana Brown. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent also will not attend the G20 finance track meetings.
The G20 comprises 19 countries, with the AU and EU, and makes up more than 80% of the global economy and two-thirds of the world population.
Parliament’s two houses, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, have not scheduled sittings this week to allow committees to conduct oversight, parliament says.
“The members of the National Assembly will from Monday embark on a weeklong oversight programme. A total of 16 parliamentary committees are scheduled to visit eight provinces this week to assess progress in the implementation of various government service delivery programmes,” parliament said in a statement.
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