For the first time in the democratic history of South Africa, a Budget Speech had to be postponed after disagreements between the Government of National Unity member parties. Though President Cyril Ramaphosa touched on the issue last week, he has addressed it again in his weekly newsletter shared this morning.

BUDGET SPEECH POSTPONEMENT

Last week, the speech was postponed reportedly after parties disagreed with the proposed 2% increase in VAT. Parties in the GNU, including the Democratic Alliance, said that they would not support the Budget Speech as the tax increase would break consumers. At the time, DA leader John Steunheizen said that the last-minute postponement came about because the ANC and Godongwana failed to engage meaningfully with the alternative proposals tabled by the party. EFF leader Julius Malema said the postponement rendered Parliament useless. Ramaphosa said in his newsletter published this morning that the Cabinet decided to postpone the budget presentation to allow further discussion of areas of disagreement among parties in GNU. "The last-minute postponement was unfortunate. It gave rise to concern and uncertainty among South Africans, investors, and the financial markets, who look to the Budget for important signals about the state and direction of our economy. The budget reflects the government's choices and priorities for the country's development. Decisions on how to spend public funds have implications for every South African," the President wrote. He added that it was essential that the concerns raised by different parties around the budget be properly addressed in the interests of accountability, transparency, and consensus-building.

GNU IS GETTING THERE

Ramaphosa said that the new GNU arrangement requires a different approach in some respects. He said that the process of forging agreement among the political parties in the GNU is still a work in progress. "But we are certainly getting there. Disagreements, contradictions, and policy divergence are inherent in governments made up of several political parties. It has been more than six months since the formation of the GNU. Despite disagreement between parties on a range of matters, the centre holds. It is a sign of a healthy and robust democracy that such differences may emerge from time to time and be ventilated in public,' said Ramaphosa, reiterating that differences in the GNU don't mean that it's in crisis. "It means that democracy is working. A government of national unity by definition infers consensus-building. No one party can impose its will. There needs to be thorough deliberation and meaningful engagement. The decision to postpone the Budget Speech and to continue discussions should engender public confidence in the GNU. It should reassure citizens that despite differences of opinion, we are pulling in the same direction." Ramaphosa confirmed that the budget will be tabled in Parliament on 12 March.