EFF calls for resignation of Godongwana amid VAT fiasco

As the country celebrates the reversal of the VAT hike, the EFF has called for the resignation of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, for supposedly posing a “threat to South Africa’s economy”.

Godongwana backtracked on the VAT increase ahead of the planned implementation on May 1.

In an announcement shortly after midnight on Thursday, Treasury said the proposed VAT increase had been reversed and will remain at 15%, ending a two-month battle and legal challenges over the unpopular tax hike.

VAT reversal

The National Treasury said Godongwana will introduce legislation that reverses his decision to implement an initial 0.5 percentage point hike on 1 May, followed by a second hike by the same margin on April 1 next year.

The announcement came shortly after the DA said their lawyers had been approached with a proposal for an out-of-court settlement in its challenge against the increase.

The EFF also joined the case as an “intervening party”, opposing the VAT increase and the finance committee decisions to adopt the fiscal framework.

‘Budget misguided’

The decision has been met with widespread relief as South Africans navigate a tough economic climate and the battle to make ends meet.

The EFF said the budget was “misguided, ill-conceived and reckless” and failed to recognise South Africa’s economic circumstances.

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Godongwana resignation

It said the budget failed to respond decisively to the crisis of unemployment and poor economic growth that “now threatens a national economic collapse”.

“South Africans need jobs and economic growth urgently, and the state is the only institution with the capacity to respond — yet the National Treasury remains obsessed with an unscientific fiscal anchor strategy that will only plunge South Africa into a deeper crisis.

“The EFF calls for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Finance and the Director-General of the National Treasury. This entire budget fiasco should be a reflection for the Minister of Finance and his Director General that they are out of depth and pose a threat to the economic stability of the country and, by consequence, are a threat to the livelihoods of South Africans,” the EFF said.

Releasing correspondence

The EFF wants Parliament’s National Speaker Thoko Didiza to call a meeting with all political party leaders and to release all correspondence with Godongwana.

The red berets said they will consider the written out-of-court settlement proposed by Godongwana.

“However, we maintain that without a full withdrawal and reset of the budget process, whatever follows will remain illegal and unconstitutional.”

The VAT rate was scheduled to rise to 15.5% on 1 May, but growing political and public pressure placed Godongwana under strain to abandon the proposed increase.

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