The Democratic Alliance (DA) has hit back at EFF leader Julius Malema’s comments, saying he cannot pin the Government of National Unity (GNU) failures on them because they are true to South Africans.
“Malema is not correct in his assessment. You can’t blame the DA for being true to South Africans,” DA spokesperson Karabo Khakhau said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
Malema told journalists on Monday in Johannesburg that the ANC and the DA were responsible for the mess in government.
According to Malema, the failure to table a budget is a sign that the GNU has collapsed.
He stated that the main parties in the GNU were still figuring out how to cooperate with one another.
On Sunday, the Western Cape High Court ruled to halt the 0.5% Valued Added Tax (VAT) increase, which was scheduled to go into effect on May 1, from 15% to 15.5%.
Because of this, the nation is currently functioning without a budget that has been authorised.
Malema blamed this on the GNU, saying it had failed the South African people.
“We must be ashamed that we are a country without a budget. Everybody must be ashamed that there’s no budget in South Africa as we speak. What is worse is that the poor are going to pay the cost of what could have been avoided,” he said.
Responding to this, Khakhau said, “It is opportunistic for Malema to want to pin us to the same box as the ANC and other political parties who voted in favour of the budget.”
She defended the DA’s approach to court, saying the ANC was not negotiating in good faith. “It’s hard to keep that kind of marriage afloat,” she added.
Khakhau said they expect the entire fiscal framework process to start from scratch, following the court’s ruling.
However, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri stated that the party will not engage in speculation regarding who was responsible for the withdrawal of the finance minister’s proposed VAT increase.
She emphasised that South Africans deserve a budget that adequately funds essential services and supports job creation.
Politics
