The South African opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has written to the Speaker of Parliament, Thoko Didiza, seeking to block lawmakers from meeting to vote on the next stage of the budget process.
In a letter sent to the National Assembly Speaker, the EFF argued that Tuesday’s proceedings, which supported the fiscal framework in spite of reservations about some budget revenue-generating measures, were “procedurally defective and vulnerable to legal challenge.”
The EFF requested that the committee’s report supporting the fiscal framework be withdrawn, and that the Wednesday afternoon sitting of Parliament to consider and vote on the report be rescheduled.
“Should this not occur, the EFF will consider urgent legal steps, including the possibility of an interdict, to prevent the tabling and processing of a report adopted in violation of the law,” the letter stated.
The African National Congress (ANC), the largest political party in the ruling coalition, relied on the small party outside the coalition, ActionSA, to gain the support it needed on Tuesday in Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance.
The ANC’s main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had accused it of crossing a “line in the sand” by relying on a party outside the coalition to approve the fiscal framework.
South Africa’s largest trade union group, COSATU, a long-standing ANC ally, warned that ignoring Parliament’s reservations about raising value-added tax (VAT) and not adjusting personal income tax (PIT) brackets for inflation would be a “travesty.”
In a statement, COSATU added, “That will be a calamity and a breach of trust that politicians heading into the 2026 local elections dare not play with.’’ (Reuters/NAN)
