‘There is no agreement yet’ – Steenhuisen refutes 2025 Budget Speech finalisation

Steenhuisen

Cape Town — Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has confirmed that no agreement has been reached on the revised budget.

In an X post on Tuesday, he said that discussions are still ongoing as members of the Government of National Unity (GNU) work towards a resolution ahead of the Budget Speech on 12 March.

“Good afternoon, South Africa. Constructive discussions on the budget are ongoing. There is no agreement yet, but we are working towards a resolution by 12 March,” he wrote.

Steenhuisen’s comments came less than 24 hours after Cabinet released a statement to say that the revisded Budget was approved by a team led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile and the National Treasury.

The meeting was convened to consider inputs by members of the Cabinet into the best possible options, under the circumstances, to fund the Budget of the 2025/26 financial year and the medium term.

“With the conclusion of the Cabinet input process into the Budget, the Minister of Finance and National Treasury are now set to finalise the budget and table it before Parliament on March 12,” their statement read.

Cabinet reportedly rejected the reworked Budget, this time without the 2% VAT increase. It argued that it would not work for the people.

The DA and other political parties in the GNU rejected the proposed VAT increase, saying this would worsen people’s financial situation.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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