Cape Town – The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), the fourth-largest party in the Government of National Unity (GNU), has reaffirmed its commitment to the coalition despite opposing the national budget.
According to EWN, party leader Corné Mulder said that the FF Plus did not join the GNU to simply endorse the ANC’s policies, which he claims have failed over the past 30 years.
The FF Plus, alongside the Democratic Alliance (DA), voted against the fiscal framework in protest of a planned 0.5% increase in the VAT rate.
Mulder criticised the ANC for seeking external support on budget matters instead of engaging with GNU partners.
“That puts a huge question mark over the successful function of a Government of National Unity or a coalition,” the report quoted him as saying.
He called for a revised coalition agreement addressing budget concerns and expenditure cuts to avoid tax increases.
In an interview with Daily Maverick, Mulder made it clear that he would not back down in his criticism of ANC-led policies, which he believes have contributed significantly to the country’s economic decline since the party assumed power in 1994.
“The ANC needs to work collaboratively with other political parties and embrace fair, transparent decision-making that reflects the diverse views of the entire spectrum of stakeholders,” Mulder asserted.
Despite the tension surrounding the VAT issue, Mulder remains cautiously optimistic about the potential for the GNU to succeed. He acknowledged the growing scepticism among his supporters but said that his party would not act impulsively.
“It will be my task with my structures to not, with a knee-jerk kind of reaction, be irresponsible and say we move out. I won’t do that. We will have to evaluate and see if we can use this vehicle to the benefit of all. But then we need the larger players, specifically the biggest one, the ANC, to be prepared to say, ‘We are prepared to listen and we are prepared to make certain compromises,” he said.
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Compiled by Anda Tolibadi
