Budget secured, GNU remains - John Matisonn

Key topics:DA blocked budget to force Ramaphosa to fire a ministerDA also halted VAT hike, citing lack of consultationGNU survives tensions as public support deters collapse.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By John Matisonn.The DA notched up a rare victory in its battle for influence in the government of national unity (GNU) by refusing to pass two departmental budgets, effectively vetoing the national budget until President Cyril Ramaphosa removed two ministers.Days before the vote, Ramaphosa fired one of them, higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane, and the DA signalled this was sufficient to lift its veto. While Ramaphosa and his ANC firmly rejected claims he was caving in to the DA’s demand, the timing makes the explanation that it was coincidence implausible. This was the second victory the DA claimed as a result of hard ball tactics. The first was blocking the VAT increase in the first budget by refusing to support that budget. The VAT increase was removed. The original coalition document between the two parties provided for disputes to be resolved by “sufficient consensus” of 60% of the votes in the National Assembly, but the DA claimed disputes were not brought before them to test this method. Later, a second method in the form of a “clearing house” mechanism for dispute resolution was accepted. Neither has worked.The DA believed the VAT increase and the firing of DA deputy minister of trade and industry Andrew Whitfield were done in violation of adequate consultation or advance notice. While much of the media saw this as simply further bickering between the two biggest parties, for the DA it was an unavoidable response to the lack of consultation by the dominant party. The DA believes that with 22% of the vote, more than half the ANC’s 40%, it should have roughly half the ANC’s influence on policy..Read more:.Ramaphosa fires minister to save budget deal and coalition unity.Despite angry words by members of both parties, the GNU seems likely to continue. Both parties are aware of opinion polling that shows the South African public approves of the GNU. As a result, both parties’ leaders feel they cannot afford to be seen as the party that ended it. The National Assembly approved the Appropriation Bill at its first reading, by 262 votes to 90. All 10 parties in the GNU voted in favour, while the MK party, EFF, African Transformation Movement, United Africans Transformation and National Coloured Congress opposed it.Of the ANC’s 159 MPs, 144 were present and voted in favour. The DA had 76 out of its 87 MPs in attendance, the IFP 12 of its 17 MPs present, while the Patriotic Alliance (PA) recorded full attendance and all nine MPs voting in favour. The bill now proceeds to vote-by-vote consideration of departmental allocations, followed by the second reading and final adoption before heading to the National Council of Provinces.Without the Appropriation Act, the government may only spend 45% of the previous year’s Budget until the end of July, which is next week, and after that the government can only spend 10% a month of the previous appropriated Budget. By October 2025, the government would run out of authority to spend any more of last year’s appropriation.

Budget secured, GNU remains - John Matisonn

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