By Mpumzi Mshweshwe
\Political parties within and outside the government of national unity have come forward to state their stances on voting in a particular way on the controversial national budget.
The United Democratic Movement party (UDM) is one of the parties that came forward to explain their reasons for voting for the national budget with the VAT increase. The party had refuted what it felt was propaganda being spread across social media speculating on why it voted in favour of the VAT hike. Also, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) was vocal on why it supported the budget saying instead of rejecting it completely, it would rather see the hike being applied as a temporary measure.
The UDM clarified its position and explained why it felt there had been a misconception about its vote on the issue and whether GNU “politics” played any part in why they voted for it.
“The UDM takes a pragmatic stance on taxation, recognising it as a necessary but difficult tool to keep South Africa’s economy afloat. Whether through corporate taxes, which yield limited revenue, personal income tax and other forms of indirect tax, or a VAT hike that is more regressive, the reality is that the government must secure funding to sustain essential services and social welfare programmes, said UDM deputy president, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa. Kwankwa said that the party recognised that tax increases are sometimes unavoidable to prevent economic instability. Responsible fiscal management is essential to securing the country’s future.
Following a post-national executive committee meeting media briefing held in Durban on Monday that covered a wide range of issues, including the state of the country and GNU and the national budget, party president Velenkosini Hlabisa said they supported the budget because it was not only about the 0.5% VAT increase. He said the budget contained service delivery issues that would benefit the poorest of the poor.
The budget was also geared to create jobs through infrastructure, employ more teachers, doctors and nurses, which in itself was job creation. Also, the employment of the teachers, nurses and doctors would benefit the poorest of the poor as these professionals would be part of the public service for the benefit of the people.
He said that the IFP would be giving constant feedback on the budget that they approved.
“The IFP will ensure that the allocated budgets are executed accordingly across all departments because it is the responsibility of the cabinet and the cabinet operates collectively, not as one person. We will remain a strong voice, and we will be urging the President and all departments to give a quarterly accountability,” Hlabisa said.
“The IFP is anti-VAT increases, this remains our position and while the VAT increase is not desirable, we support this budget under prevailing conditions, the first of such is that the VAT increase must be temporary and must be done away with as soon as more viable income streams are secured,” Hlabisa said.
Build One South Africa (BOSA), which was another party to vote for the VAT hike proposed a gambling tax to help raise more revenue. BOSA leader Mmusi Maimane said that the voting to pass the fiscal framework was the better option as the alternative is a disaster that South Africa could afford.
“Rejecting the framework at that stage would have put salaries at risk, delayed social grants, and disrupted the functioning of schools and hospitals. Secondly, our support came with the clear, non-negotiable conditions. Specifically, if the proposed VAT increase is not reversed, then our support for the budget will be withdrawn,” Maimane said.
The Patriotic Alliance and a few others voted in favour of the budget while Umkhonto Wesizwe, EFF and others voters with the DA to oppose the budget. The parties opposed the VAT increase, while the DA went further to challenge the budget process in court
There is a strong push within the ANC for the DA to be excluded from the GNU because of its stance. Many senior ANC members including party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, said the DA could not oppose the budget but still remained in the GNU. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who favoured negotiations to end the impasse earlier, said the DA put itself in this position and it was up to the party to see how it got itself out of the hole. – @NewsSA_Online