The leader of ActionSA, Herman Mashaba, took another jab at the DA today, saying the scrapping of the VAT increase was achieved by parties outside the government of national unity (GNU), not by any court action.
Mashaba was speaking in Sandton on Thursday, April 24, where parties including the ANC, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), BOSA and others briefed the media following the government’s decision to scrap the increase.
This came after DA Federal Chairperson Helen Zille and other party members claimed victory, saying the VAT increase reversal was a result of their court case in the Western Cape High Court.
Mashaba said nobody attempted to mislead or dupe anyone else, and there was an absolute focus on the budget and nothing else.
“Let us be clear: The reversal of this VAT increase was not achieved by the parties that were in court on Tuesday. The VAT reversal was achieved by political parties that were willing to put their differences aside and demonstrate the maturity required to find an alternative to a VAT increase. These parties adopted a fiscal framework with the strict condition that a 30-day period would be used to assess revenue alternatives to a VAT increase.
“During this period, we actively participated in submitting alternatives, around which engagements were held to explore their viability. The announcement by the Minister this morning, and this press conference, take place within the context of that process,” Mashaba, a former member of the DA, said in reference to the party’s claim that it was behind the scrapping of the VAT increase by, among other measures, taking the matter to court.
Mashaba also said it was surprising that the VAT impasse had to be resolved by parties outside the GNU while those within were squabbling.
“It is indeed quite bizarre that opposition political parties outside of the GNU had to step in and negotiate what a particular political party inside the GNU preferred to pursue through the courts.
That is a matter for the GNU to address and not a concern of ActionSA’s.”
The DA, a key member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s GNU, broke ranks and took the National Treasury to court in a bid to interdict the implementation of the 15.5 VAT. This was after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana pushed through his five percentage VAT increase despite opposition from many political parties and members of the public.
