Deputy president Paul Mashatile says the DA’s rejection of the fiscal framework has set a precedent for how its ministers in the government of national unity (GNU) might approach legislation in the future.
Mashatile believes this includes the Division of Revenue Bill and the Appropriations Bill, which are up for consideration by parliament in May and June.
“Now that they have not voted for the fiscal framework, it sets the tone for what they will do with the Appropriation Bill and the Division of Revenue Bill. Those things are still coming. We will work with those who go all the way with us. We need the budget to get SA working.”
His comments come as the stability of the GNU remains uncertain, with parties in the coalition government holding intraparty discussions on the future of the partnership. The impasse highlights tensions within the GNU as coalition partners clash over policy priorities and governance strategies.
Two GNU members — the DA and the FF+ — did not support the vote passed in parliament last Wednesday. The fiscal framework, which includes a 0.5 percentage point VAT hike, was passed with the support of non-GNU parties, including ActionSA and Build One SA (Bosa).
Business Day understands the current configuration of the 10-member GNU will be the key question under consideration in discussions among the respective parties, including how to formalise the operations of the coalition government and its dispute mechanisms.
The GNU founding document, the statement of intent, was signed by all parties after the 2024 elections, and the clearing house mechanism, headed by Mashatile, is “insufficient and needs to be reworked”, according to a source close to the discussions.
Mashatile was speaking on Monday before the ANC national working committee meeting, at which the future of the GNU was high on the agenda.
He also criticised the DA ministers who, despite not voting for the budget, continue to serve in their positions.
Though the DA reaffirmed its commitment to the GNU at the weekend, the party’s legal challenge against the VAT hike, including the process in parliament that saw the passing of the fiscal framework, continues.
“They [DA ministers] did not vote for it [the 2025/26 budget], but I can see that some of them are still working as ministers... I would be ashamed to do that because where does the budget come from? You run to work as a minister, but you didn’t vote for the budget; you think it’s OK,” Mashatile said.
The FF Plus and the IFP have committed to the GNU.
IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa said the party’s identity within the GNU remained, adding that “the party is not in the GNU to carry the bags of the ANC or the DA”.
“National Treasury must focus on exploring complementary revenue generation strategies, such as improving tax collection efficiency and reducing government expenditure on nonessential items. More broadly the GNU must robustly focus itself on job creation, economic growth and investment,” Hlabisa said at a briefing after a meeting of the IFP national executive committee on Monday.
The federal executive management committee of the FF Plus, which also voted against the fiscal framework, still intends to participate in the coalition government.
The party’s top brass held meetings after the outcomes of parliament’s vote on the fiscal framework last Wednesday and reaffirmed its commitment to the GNU, saying “the party will not let the decisions or actions of another party affect its own decision-making”.
In a statement, the FF Plus said the GNU, however, required a “reset”. “The FF Plus wants to be part of a GNU whereby the country’s problems are effectively addressed, and the ideals and needs of Afrikaners and other minorities in SA are met.
“That is the party’s commitment, but it warrants a thorough reconsideration of every party involved in the GNU,” it said.
The GNU comprises the ANC, DA, Rise Mzansi, Al Jama-ah, IFP, Patriotic Alliance (PA), GOOD, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), FF+ and the UDM. These parties represent 70% of the seats in the National Assembly.
In the days before the passing of the fiscal framework, the DA sent the ANC a list of demands, including supporting the 0.5 percentage point VAT hike, in exchange for supporting the budget. However, the ANC rejected this. The DA sought accelerated growth reforms, lobbying for deputy finance minister Ashor Sarupen to join as the second deputy as co-chair of Operation Vulindlela to speed up the reforms in passenger and freight rail.
Other demands to boost growth included replacing references to nil compensation with “just and equitable” in the Expropriation Act, withdrawing the National Health Insurance (NHI) legal entity in the Government Gazette, removing tariffs on goods that are not made in SA and amending the Public Procurement Act to ensure preferential policies do not inflate the cost the government pays for goods and services.
Mashatile said: “We had a lot of engagements with all parties. The leader of the DA, minister [John] Steenhuisen, met the president and raised all sorts of things [like] ‘you are not serious about the economy; if you focus on the economy, things will be right, why don’t you fix Prasa, Transnet?’ The president responded ‘we are doing exactly that’. They also wanted to chair Operation Vulindlela, themselves. The president said, ‘No, I chair that myself.’
“We are not married to VAT as a lifetime thing ... we need it just to cross this bridge now. We think that we can push growth beyond 3% of GDP within these next three years.”
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