WATCH | Budget wars rock GNU – Mashatile vows stability

Mashatile

Cape Town – Deputy President Paul Mashatile has assured that tensions within the Government of National Unity (GNU) do not indicate its collapse, despite disagreements over the 2025 fiscal framework.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) voted against the framework, with the DA also launching a legal challenge against the proposed 0.5% VAT increase set to take effect on 1 May.

Mashatile emphasised that the GNU is a 10-party coalition, not just an agreement between the ANC and DA.

He stressed the importance of consensus among all members and suggested expanding the coalition to include parties like ActionSA and Build One South Africa (BOSA), both of which supported the budget framework.

“The Government of National Unity has had a lot of challenges in the past but those did not lead to its collapse. And the reason being that we continue and we will continue to consider the GNU as an agreement not between two parties. It’s not an agreement of the ANC and the DA.

“It’s an agreement of 10 parties and we want to make sure that when we deal with issues in the GNU, we deal with these issues as all parties, as all of us, working together, prioritising the challenges that the people of South Africa are facing, not our narrow political interest,” Mashatile said

Mashatile made these remarks on Thursday during a commemoration event for South African Communist Party (SACP) leader Chris Hani in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape.

Meanwhile, EWN reported that the ANC remains optimistic about resolving the budget impasse. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said that negotiations are progressing well, with ongoing discussions between the ruling party, its GNU partners, and opposition parties.

The proposed 0.5% VAT increase has been a sticking point, facing significant resistance. While ActionSA and BOSA, despite not being part of the GNU, backed the fiscal framework in Parliament, the DA and FF Plus have yet to engage with the ANC to find a resolution.

Mbalula expects a final decision on the budget next week and dismissed concerns over instability.

“At the present moment, we are sailing very nicely and that has not been anything that suggests that we may have mayhem,” he said.

He also clarified that discussions on restructuring the GNU would only occur if a party withdrew. However, the exit of one party would not collapse the coalition but would instead trigger negotiations on its reconfiguration.

As negotiations continue, no decision has been made on whether to scrap the VAT hike, with talks involving the Minister of Finance and various political stakeholders still underway.

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