Clear skies for South Africa’s budget
South Africa’s 2025 budget seems to be out of the woods, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) confirming that it will support the passing of the Appropriation Bill in the National Assembly on Wednesday, 23 July.
DA leader and agriculture minister John Steenhuisen said that this follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to dismiss Nobuhle Nkabane as Higher Education Minister.
Broadly, the Appropriation Bill, with its vote scheduled for 23 July 2025, is one of two pieces of legislation that implement the country’s budget.
It authorises government spending and allocates funds to departments and entities, divided into budget votes, each corresponding to a specific government department or entity for things like operations and service delivery.
The bill’s fate was up in the air after Ramaphosa fired DA Deputy Minister Andrew Whitfield over an unauthorised trip to the US.
Steenhuisen dangled a no-confidence motion against the President, withdrew the DA from the National Dialogue, and announced that his party would vote against budgets for African National Congress (ANC)-led departments of Ministers allegedly implicated in corruption – including Nkabane.
The party opposed Nkabane’s vote due to a scandal around the SETA board appointments, which had included individuals aligned to the ANC.
Before the President sacked Nkabane on 21 July, the ANC was preparing for all eventualities, crisscrossing Parliament to muster support from opposition parties to get the bill over the line.
ANC Parliamentary Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli had told BusinessTech that his party felt confident with it passing through consultation with all parties in Parliament, calling it a “national imperative.”
Steenhuisen said that “the DA acted in the national interest when we passed the Division of Revenue Bill to enable provinces and municipalities to continue to receive funding.”
“We will now pass the Appropriation Bill in the national interest following the President’s actions,” of firing Nkabane.
The DA’s 87 votes in Parliament, in addition to the ANC’s 159, mean that the Bill is set to pass with a comfortable majority in the 400-seat National Assembly.
Don’t get comfortable Mr President, says Steenhuisen
South Africa’s 2025 budget, the first of the coalition government, has been nothing short of a rollercoaster.
The 2025 budget, initially set for 19 February, was delayed due to disagreements within the GNU—mainly over a proposed 2% VAT hike.
Coalition partner DA opposed the increase, marking an unprecedented budget delay in the post-apartheid era.
A revised version in March reduced the VAT hike to 0.5%, but faced continued opposition.
Smaller opposition parties offered conditional support, while the DA and EFF challenged the process in court.
After further negotiations, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana scrapped the VAT hike entirely in a third version, tabled on 21 May, replacing it with a fuel levy increase.
The revised plan won cautious backing from the DA and passed with support from the other GNU partners, along with some others.
While Steenhuisen welcomed Ramaphosa’s decision to dismiss Nkabane, he insisted that it must be “the beginning, not the end.”
Steenhuisen recalled that the DA had earlier announced it would withhold support for the budgets of ministers implicated in wrongdoing unless dismissals followed.
“We also laid fraud charges against Minister Nkabane and submitted a complaint to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee,” he said.
These actions, he said, “were not symbolic, they were principled stands backed by real consequence,” and the DA intends to see them through to conclusion.
He warned, however, that several individuals in the Executive still face serious allegations.
“If the President is serious about restoring public trust, he must act decisively and consistently—not only when under pressure,” Steenhuisen said.
He also called on the ANC to acknowledge its new reality in a GNU.
“The ANC must accept that it no longer governs alone… in a coalition, meaningful consultation with partners is not optional.”
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