Political fallout looms as ANC pushes controversial VAT hike

VAT hike: A tough choice or a risk to economic recovery? – The Mail & Guardian

South Africa’s economy is still recovering from the post-Covid-19 downturn, yet the government has decided to increase VAT to boost revenue. This decision has sparked intense debate, with MPs suggesting that corporate or income tax increases would be a better alternative. But raising income tax is unfeasible given the fragile state of household finances, while higher corporate tax could lead to price hikes, as businesses tend to pass costs onto …

🔒 Budget endgame still blurred - John Matisonn

Key topics: ActionSA rejects VAT hikes and income tax increases in the national budget. Calls for cuts in wasteful spending, including deputy ministers and international travel. Political deadlock may lead to a revised coalition or further budget compromises. Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here. …

ANC’s options dwindle further with ActionSA’s refusal to support budget

ActionSA says tax increases ‘cannot be supported for a government that has failed to address its own considerable wastage and inefficiencies’

Political fallout looms as ANC pushes controversial VAT hike

Dark clouds hovering over SA budget - CAJ News Africa

by MTHULISI SIBANDA JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – ALMOST exactly a year after its stranglehold on power ended, the African National Congress (ANC) faces the ignominy of Parliament rejecting a Budget for the first time since the advent of majority rule. Not since the advent of democracy more than 30 years ago has a budget been so this divisive as the 2025/26 one. It is meanwhile the latest point of infighting within the coalition government running …

How the SA consumer class cuts costs

When Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered the 2025 National Budget Speech on 12 March, the nation wondered if the GNU was really taking the country’s cost of living crisis by the horns and wrestling it to the ground. Concerns about the impacts of the value-added tax (VAT) increases over the next two years, rising costs of debt servicing and the lack of decisive strategies to tackle rising consumer costs have risen out of the dust. Read mo…