There’ll be an agreement, says DA on budget deadlock

THE DA is confident president Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver on some of the proposals they’ve put forward as the parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) continue being divided over the proposed budget which is set to be decided on Wednesday.

It has been reported that the DA has apparently agreed to support the budget in its current format, which included a VAT hike of 0.5% or 1% over two years in exchange for the scrapping of the National Health Insurance (NHI), the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA) and the Expropriation Act among others.

While not specific on their considerations, DA national spokesperson, Willie Aucamp told the Cape Times on Sunday that his party presented a document two weeks ago which the ANC rejected two days ago, but negotiations were ongoing. The party’s federal executive was meeting about the issue Sunday evening.

“We presented a document to the ANC 14 days ago already, that was a substantial document we put on the table concerning all the measures that will enhance growth in the economy, job creation, as well as cost cutting measures. The ANC came to us two days ago and they said that they are not accepting the document, that they expect us as their coalition partner to accept the budget and support it. We cannot do that.

“Should the ANC go and look for support from outside of the GNU to get the budget passed, they must then be prepared to govern with those people. We do not think that they will and we believe that there will be an agreement that will be reached between the partners within the GNU,” said Aucamp.

Asked what it would take for the DA to support the budget in its current form, he said, “they (ANC) have got to support what we propose to them with regards to economical growth and cost cutting”.

On reports that the DA wanted the NHI, BELA and the Expropriation Act to be scrapped to agree to the VAT increase, he said: “That’s an absolute lie that is being spread, BELA has never been on the table with regards to this budget. The NHI was not put on the table by the DA. The ANC in the government promulgates certain issues with regards to the NHI, so they put NHI to this table. There is no money for the NHI. With regards to Expropriation, it’s standing in the middle of economical growth. What we’ve put on the table is not the scrapping of the ACT… its dangers to it (economic growth).”

“If we are going to accept a 0.5% VAT increase it’s got to be attached to all the cost cutting measures, all the economic growth measures, we have put on the table. Should the proposals we have made be put on the table it will far outweigh the negative effects of a 0.5% VAT increase. We need to create jobs,” he said. Some of their proposals listed in a 13-14 page document included, “private concessioning of Richards Bay and Cape Town harbours, our freight rail network”, among others.

“We know we will not necessarily always get everything that we want, but so the ANC is also a minority party, they must also realise they will not get all they want. It is a matter of give and take.”

The ANC said it supports the current budget proposal as a “progressive and balanced response to the urgent task of stabilising public finances while stimulating inclusive growth and protecting the poor”.

“The budget allocates 61 cents of every rand to the social wage - including education, healthcare, and social protection - reaffirming the ANC’s commitment to a developmental state that intervenes decisively to change the material conditions of the poor and the working class.”

Political analyst, professor Sipho Seepe said the DA has been sufficiently tested.

“It has put in what it calls the red line, that if this line is crossed they would move out. They said that with the Expropriation Act, they said that with the BELA Act, now they seem to be making the same statement with the budget. Now the question is how far can they continue and not take the action that is linked to those threats. If the budget is a red line and if the ANC does not succumb to its demands, they will be undermining their own constituency because every position they have always taken, it has been more about saying ‘being in the GNU does not mean we are co-opted into the ANC’s agenda. We are in the GNU to advance both ourselves, and to show off the ANC’s agenda. That we are in the GNU to advance both ourselves as a governing party and to continue to advance the interests of the DA’.”

Cape Times