As the political fallout from the contentious VAT debacle continues – as political parties scramble to claim victory of the decision to remove it – the Democratic Alliance has upped the ante, claiming that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana wants to settle the VAT hike case out of court.
However in an interview with , DA Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, failed to provide any evidence to back up her party’s claims.
According to the DA, Godongwana’s lawyers approached their legal team with a proposal to settle the VAT hike case out of court.
In an interview with Zille, asked for proof of the alleged conversation between both parties’ legal counsel. This included emails, screenshots of conversations, and other evidence to support her claims.
Zille said the lawyers couldn’t share their communications with the media.
“The lawyers correspond with each other. Our lawyers then phoned us informing us about the matter.”
Instead, she said, “You have to wait a few days to see if I am telling the truth or not.”
This comes after the DA alleged that Godongwana’s lawyers approached theirs for a settlement out of court. According to Zille, this was because the minister feared that they were going to lose the case.
However, in an interview with the SABC, FaceTheNation show, ANC parliamentary chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli dismissed Zille’s claims, saying Godongwana knows nothing about the alleged exchange of information between the legal teams.
According to Ntuli, the minister assured him that the reports were not true.
“His response to me was that he doesn’t know what the reports were about,” Ntuli said, affirming that Godongwana told him that.
Zille maintained that Godongwana’s counsel has approached their lawyers.
Asked if she could provide evidence that indeed her claims are true, Zille replied “Well the lawyers for the minister must come out and say they never offered us a settlement because, in fact, they did.”
“The problem with the ANC is that the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing. The lawyers for the Treasury and the minister came back to us with an offer settlement out-of-court”.
Meanwhile, Godongwana has scrapped the 0.5% VAT increase.
The ANC and DA re meeting on Friday to discuss the GNU and budget matters.
Politics
