With only two days left for the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, to deliver his budget speech on Wednesday, the MK Party protested to the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank in Pretoria today to protest the proposed 2% VAT increase.
NO TO VAT INCREASE
Last month, Minister Godongwana postponed the budget speech due to disagreements among the member parties of the Government of National Unity regarding the suggested VAT hike. MK Party Parliament chief whip, Mzwanele Manyi, said that raising taxes would lead to a higher cost of living. He said hundreds of their members took to the streets today because they had tried other avenues to get Godongwana not to increase VAT, but nothing worked. "Our members participate in the standing committee on finance in Parliament, and they have raised this issue to deaf ears. We have written letters to the minister, and nothing came of it. That is why we are here. Our message is simple; we are saying no to any increase in VAT," he said. Manyi further emphasised that such an increase would harm the poor and the working class. "We want to say to Godongwana that we are not entertaining any discussion on the VAT increase. We want nothing to do with VAT. We have a problem with VAT, generally. If anything, VAT must be slashed down by 2 percentage points," he added.
THE COUNTRY WILL BE UNGOVERNABLE
Manyi warned that if Godongwana proceeds with the VAT increase during his budget speech on Wednesday, the party will take measures to bring South Africa to a standstill. He indicated that while they would conduct a peaceful march, the country would effectively come to a halt. "We will make sure our masses take to the street and make the country ungovernable. Our Constitution allows us to do that. The economy will come to a standstill, and we are urging them not to push us to that end when this can be solved with the solutions we have proposed." Manyi said there are other avenues the government can take to raise R58 billion in additional revenue in the 2025/26 financial year. "We are saying there are other avenues they can use. One of them is capacitating SARS so that it can go and get R800 billion. This issue of tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance by the multinationals must come to an end," he said. The first memorandum was delivered to the National Treasury; they also marched to the Reserve Bank over the liquidation of Ithala Bank.
