Johannesburg – The second-largest party in South Africa’s testy unity government said on Thursday it was reconsidering its future in the alliance after parliament passed a budget that it had rejected.
The centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) filed a legal appeal to stop a one-percent VAT hike over the next two financial years that was outlined in the budget passed Wednesday by just eight votes.
The DA’s senior leaders were also set to meet on Thursday to consider its place in the 10-party alliance, federal council chairperson Helen Zille told reporters.
“We know that being in a coalition requires compromise,” she said. “You can’t get it all. But the ANC also can’t get it all, and they are refusing, point blank, to share power.”
[WATCH] The Democratic Alliance has officially filed papers in the Western Cape High Court to invalidate the National Assembly’s passing of the 2025/26 Budget. The party’s Federal Chairperson Helen Zille says they are in the government to grow the economy and create jobs. pic.twitter.com/AH4etURh0Q
— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 3, 2025
The DA joined the African National Congress in a unity government formed in June 2024 after the ANC failed to win a majority in elections.
In return, it holds six significant cabinet portfolios.
“We know that whatever decision we take will have profound implications for South Africa and for our economy. So we’re not rushing into anything,” Zille said.
The party has locked horns several times with the ANC within the unity government, including over education policy and plans for national health insurance.
Senior ANC officials also reportedly raised doubts about the future of the alliance after the DA rejected the budget, saying that the party could not be part of a government if it opposed its budget.
The unity government has been credited with bringing some stability to the continent’s most industrialised economy as it faces a host of challenges, from an unemployment rate topping 30 percent to high rates of crime and corruption.
Key opposition parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters and MK, also rejected the budget Wednesday, saying that the government needs to find other ways to bolster revenue rather than by taxing ordinary South Africans.
