Media Statements

The African National Congress (ANC) welcomes the formal withdrawal of the proposed VAT increase by the Minister of Finance and the setting aside of the 2025 Fiscal Framework. This outcome is not a legal victory for any party, but a decisive political resolution rooted in consultation, maturity, and the guiding principles of the Freedom Charter: “The People Shall Govern.”

The ANC remains steadfast in asserting that the work of government must be shaped not by courtrooms and media spectacle, but through democratic consultation, constructive consensus-building, and revolutionary responsibility to the people.

The political decision to reverse the VAT increase was reached after substantive engagement between the ANC and ten other parties in Parliament — all of whom demonstrated discipline, focus, and patriotic clarity.

These include the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), ActionSA, Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Rise Mzansi, Build One South Africa (BOSA), United Democratic Movement (UDM), Al Jama-ah, Patriotic Alliance (PA), GOOD Party, and the National Coloured Congress (NCC).

We salute the collective maturity shown in reaching this outcome — a moment that affirmed that political differences need not paralyse governance, and that principled cooperation in the national interest is not only possible but necessary.

A PEOPLE’S BUDGET ROOTED IN GROWTH AND REDRESS

We note that the Minister of Finance has communicated a new process to adopt the revised fiscal framework that will now be tabled on 21 May 2025. We call on government to ensure that it reflects a conscious decision to protect the most vulnerable while ensuring the budget remains a tool for inclusive growth, job creation, and economic reconstruction.

It has to be a people’s budget — a budget that does not retreat into austerity, nor sacrifice long-term transformation at the altar of technical compliance. Instead, it balances pro-growth policy with pro-poorspending, rooted in the developmental ethos of the Freedom Charter and the democratic values of the Constitution.

The ANC will continue with its work to engage other political parties, within the GNU, and across the floor of Parliament around the revised Fiscal Framework. Our goal is to sustain the work that we started after the initial Fiscal Framework was tabled in Parliament and build consensus around a progressive medium-term fiscal strategy that takes us out of the austerity cycle into a comprehensive Growth Agenda.

AMONG THE KEY FEATURES THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE REVISED FISCAL FRAMEWORK ARE:

• A sustained strategic shift in fiscal allocations to be biased more towards economic classifications, especially measures that will kickstart growth that creates momentum for increased entrepreneurial activity and massive employment across the economy.
• Transport Infrastructure: Increased investment in road, rail, and commuter infrastructure to unlock regional trade, reduce the cost of movement for working people, improve freight logistics by lowering costs and improving the predictability of goods movement, and stimulate local economies through public investment initiatives.
• Zero-Rated Goods Expansion: Additional food items have been added to the VAT-free basket to reduce food insecurity and ensure direct relief for poor households.
• Water Infrastructure and Dam Projects: Strategic investment to boost long-term water security, particularly in drought-prone areas, ensuring both household access and agricultural viability.
• Healthcare Funding: The employment of 9,300 health workers and 800 post-community service doctors across provinces, expanding frontline capacity and improving public health delivery.
• Public Service Efficiency: Thousands of public service posts must be filled to address vacancies and improve access to government services.
• Basic Education and Teacher Retention: Ensure that funding is ring-fenced to retain teachers in classrooms, especially in rural and township schools, ensuring continuity in learning and the safeguarding of education gains.
• Early Childhood Development: Expanded allocations for early learning infrastructure, nutrition, and educator support to strengthen the foundation phase.
• Post-School Education and Training: Additional funding to NSFAS to support students from poor and working-class backgrounds, ensuring no deserving student is excluded from university or college education due to financial constraints.
• Social Protection: Over R30 billion has been allocated to extend the Social Relief of Distress (SRD)

Grant, currently reaching more than 8.5 million people. This is a strategic step toward the long-term vision of implementing a Basic Income Grant.

CLARITY ON LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS

The VAT reversal and the setting aside of the 2025 Fiscal Framework were formalised through an out-of-court settlement, endorsed as a court order by the Cape High Court on 27 April 2025. This gave legal effect to a political consensus and ensured that the VAT increase would not automatically come into force on 1 May 2025.

We welcome that Parliament did not concede to any procedural defects and further note that its processes were in full compliance with the Constitution and the Money Bills and Related Matters Act. However, in light of the Finance Minister’s withdrawal of the Division of Revenue and Appropriation Bills, and the submission of new revenue proposals, it has become necessary to legally clear the path for tabling a new budget.

The Minister will now table the revised budget on 21 May 2025, and Parliament will adjust its programme to ensure full compliance with legislative timelines, finalising the budget before the end of July 2025.

THE ANC: CENTRE OF STABILITY, ANCHOR OF TRANSFORMATION

Once again, the ANC has led society through a difficult moment with discipline, political clarity, and maturity.

We did not yield to populist noise. We did not collapse under pressure. We listened to the people, engaged the opposition, and acted in unity with others to ensure that this budget remains transformative, redistributive, and growth-focused.

We will not allow the National Democratic Revolution to be undermined through backdoor austerity, nor will we allow the legacy of the liberation movement to be diluted through short-term compromises. The Freedom Charter remains our lodestar — and this budget reflects that.

Let the message be clear: The ANC governs for the people, with the people, and in service of the people. The revised fiscal framework should be a progressive tool that will deliver jobs, strengthen public services, and uplift the poor.

DEFENDING WORKERS’ RIGHTS AGAINST DA’S ATTACK ON EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

As the nation prepares to celebrate Workers’ Day tomorrow, the ANC will continue to defend the hard-won labour rights that generations of workers have fought for. We call on our people to join the Workers’ Day rallies organised by COSATU throughout the country and to recommit to the principles of dignity, equity, and justice in the workplace.

Our steadfast rejection of the DA’s attempt to use the VAT increase as political extortion underscores this commitment. Behind the scenes, the DA was not only bargaining for budget concessions — they were pushing for a new labour regime that would allow employers to dismiss workers without due process, dismantle affirmative action, and roll back transformation. We will not relent in defending the progressive legal and constitutional framework that protects workers today.

We will never allow the working class to become collateral damage in budget negotiations. Instead, the ANC will continue to champion a growing, inclusive economy that brings more South Africans — especially young people, women, and rural communities — into the labour force, with dignity and security.

It is in this spirit that we denounce the DA’s court challenge against the Employment Equity Act. It is not only a legal manoeuvre — it is a calculated political stunt, launched on the eve of Workers’ Day, aimed at reversing three decades of democratic gains. It is an affront to workers, to the poor, and to our national Constitution.

This is part of a broader pattern. As we warned ahead of the 2024 elections, the DA has consistently opposed transformative legislation: the BELA Act, the NHI Act, the Expropriation Bill, and now the Employment Equity Amendment Act — all of which seek to restructure power, ownership, and access in our society.

The DA’s hatred for transformation has become shameless. In the Western Cape, under DA leadership, employers are advised not to comply with equity legislation, and South Africans are told not to expect preference in employment — an illegal and immoral policy that betrays the principles of common citizenship and constitutional redress.

This is made worse by the DA-aligned campaigns of Solidariteit and AfriForum, who tour foreign capitals like the United States to spread lies about the ANC “lynching” minorities — treasonous distortions that insult the spirit of unity and undermine our democratic sovereignty.

Let us be clear: the Employment Equity Act is not an attack on anyone — it is a constitutional imperative. Its recent amendments, achieved through Nedlac consensus, ensure sectoral targets that reflect regional realities, support SMMEs, and hold employers accountable in state contracts. These reforms are modest, rational, and necessary.The Freedom Charter foresaw this moment. In Clause 7 it proclaimed: “There Shall be Work and Security!”

That clause called for equal pay, the right to organise, maternity leave, a national minimum wage, and protection against exploitation. It demanded the abolition of child labour, compound labour, and the ToT system. The ANC’s revolutionary duty is to implement that vision — not to debate it with reactionaries.

We will stand with COSATU, the South African Communist Party, and all progressive formations in resisting this desperate assault by the DA. Through this act, they are drifting from the spirit of the Government of National Unity and positioning themselves outside the project of nation-building and shared prosperity.

Transformation, equity, and diversity are not up for negotiation. We will not surrender to elitist Apartheid nostalgia or legal posturing. As an organisation rooted in the struggle of mineworkers, farmworkers, domestic workers, teachers, and nurses, the ANC reaffirms: All Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth.

ROAD SAFETY: A MOMENT OF NATIONAL PRIDE AND PAUSE

The ANC congratulates the ANC-led government and the Department of Transport for a successful Easter Road Safety Campaign, which saw a significant clampdown on road fatalities and lawlessness. We also thank South Africans for heeding calls to travel responsibly and obey road laws.

This is a moment of both celebration and reflection — a recognition that effective government action, combined with public cooperation, can save lives and promote a culture of responsibility.

At the same time, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the families who lost loved ones during this period.

Your loss is our collective pain. We remain committed to strengthening road safety campaigns throughout the year to ensure fewer families face this sorrow.

The struggle continues — and through this people’s budget, we deepen the path to a more just, united, and prosperous South Africa.

END//