National Assembly passes 2025 Budget

The National Assembly has voted to adopt the 2025 Budget framework with a narrow majority.

The final tally of the vote was 194 for and 182 against, with zero abstentions.

The ANC voted with most of the Government of National Unity (GNU) members in tow to adopt the budget. The Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus rejected it.

To boost the numbers and secure a majority, the ANC courted support outside the GNU, including ActionSA and Mmusi Maimane from Build One South Africa (BOSA).

The vote was to support and adopt the report from the Standing Committee on Finance, which accepted the framework without amendments, including a one percentage point VAT hike over two years and no adjustments to income tax brackets.

The committee report was approved by the ANC, IFP and Action SA, with the DA, MK Party and EFF rejecting it.

In a huge break from the GNU, the DA and Freedom Front Plus rejected the budget and voted against it.

The parties argued that the committee report passed with the VAT and tax hikes included and that the finance committee had missed the opportunity to formally amend the budget.

Instead, it opted to approve it with non-binding recommendations.

The committee recommended that the VAT hike and the non-adjustment of tax brackets be reconsidered at a later date. However, this was not an amendment to the report and had no legal bearing.

An official amendment would have required a lengthy revision process, which the committee majority determined was untenable.

However, while the recommendation for revision may be sent to the National Treasury for consideration, there is no binding legal requirement that it make any changes to the budget.

Ahead of the vote DA also formally requested that the report be withdrawn due to procedural issues flagged in the Standing Committee.

The party said that the committee adopted the report but only finalised it hours after the meeting had adjourned, which was irregular.

The EFF, ATM and MK Party made similar requests, saying that, because of the procedural issues, tabling and adopting the report would constitute a further irregularity and make the entire process illegal.

The requests were rejected by speaker Thoko Didiza.

Following the vote’s outcome, the DA said it would file papers in the Western Cape High Court to challenge it.

“Yesterday’s sitting of Parliament’s Finance Committee was not compliant with the standing rules of Parliament, in that the Fiscal Framework was not put to the Committee to approve or reject, and one proposal during the meeting of one political party was taken as adopted without the other tabled amendments being considered,” said DA leader, John Steenhuisen.

“This legal shortcoming was carried forward into the National Assembly today.”

The DA said that the passing of the budget means everything contained in the 12 March tabling can proceed—including the VAT hikes and tax changes.

How South Africa’s political parties voted

The final vote was an extremely close call.

The GNU typically has an easy majority, with the 10 member parties accounting for 287 votes.

However, the DA and FF+’s rejection of the budget removed 93 from the tally, leaving a 7-vote hole.

The remaining ANC-led GNU, joined by ActionSA (+6) votes and BOSA would have resulted in 201 votes to 199, passing the budget.

However, this is only the scenario for a full house of MPs. With absentees factored in, it came down to the wire, with the ANC-led majority winning out.

The parties that voted to adopt the budget include (* indicates GNU partner):

• *African National Congress (ANC)
• *Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
• *Patriotic Alliance (PA)
• *United Democratic Movement (UDM)
• *Rise Mzanzi
• *GOOD Party
• *Al Jama-ah
• *Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC)
• Action SA
• Build One South Africa (BOSA)

The parties that voted to reject the budget include (* indicates GNU partner):

• *Democratic Alliance (DA)
• *Freedom Front Plus (FF+)
• uMkhonto we Sizwe (MKP)
• Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
• African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
• United Africans Transformation (UAT)
• African Transformation Movement (ATM)

The representatives of the National Coloured Congress (NCC) were absent for the vote, but indicated rejection in their debate speech.

The future of the GNU in question

The DA’s choice to vote against the budget puts its continued participation in the GNU in serious question.

Earlier in the day, leaked recordings from an ANC caucus address by President Cyril Ramaphosa made it clear that the party would see the DA’s vote against the budget as it “(defining) itself outside the GNU”.

Ramaphosa argued that the party could not be a part of the government and opposed it. There is also a view that it cannot head government departments and draw from a budget it rejects.

The ANC has been consulting with parties outside the GNU for support for the budget, and ActionSA has proven to be a willing and enabling partner.

The DA has described this as crossing a line in the sand and “a serious infraction”.

Delivering his speech ahead of the vote, DA MP and spokesperson on finance Mark Burke said that the party would not support or enable “the worst parts of the ANC” and would exit the GNU if it had to.

“We joined this GNU government to drive the growth and jobs agenda, not to enable the worst parts of the ANC,” he said.

“For that, it has to turn to ActionSA. If we’re forced to exit this government for driving a growth and jobs agenda, then so be it.”

Responding to the debate in the National Assembly, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said that parties cannot vote against the budget and then “tomorrow want to be part of its implementation”.

He said that the party would consider this a line.