The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday said they felt vindicated following the Western Cape High Court ruling on the value added tax (VAT) rate.

The court ruled that Section 7(4) of the VAT Act is unconstitutional, removing powers of the Finance Minister to alter the rate of VAT.

Both parties brought the legal challenge last year, following Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana's attempt to increase VAT during the 2025 Budget process by 0.5% in 2025 and 0.5% in 2026.

The court suspended the declaration of invalidity for 24 months to allow Parliament time to amend the VAT Act.

The EFF claimed that the Section 7(4) of the VAT Act has been an instrument of “economic dictatorship”.

“The Western Cape High Court has, therefore, correctly found this provision of the VAT Act to be inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and declared it invalid,” it said.

The Constitutional Court found that Section 7(4) of the VAT Act, which gives the Minister of Finance the unilateral power to alter the tax rate constituted an impermissible delegation of legislative power to the Executive.

The EFF said this affirmed its argument in the Standing Committee on Finance and in the National Assembly that the powers to impose and alter taxation in South Africa rest with Parliament.

“The EFF is, therefore, vindicated for its principled argument made in the Standing Committee on Finance, the National Assembly, in the Western Cape High Court and across broader society that there should never be taxation without representation,” it said.

The party stated that the ability to increase the taxes on citizens should be determined by their democratically elected public representatives and should not be determined by an individual who operates on the “misguided economic advice of a neo-liberal National Treasury, which draws its policy inspiration from a parasitic financial sector, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund”.

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said the court ruling vindicates the party’s constitutional challenge and reinforces that there can be no taxation without proper parliamentary oversight.

“It is a case of ‘No taxation without representation’ – Parliament is the representation of voters, and must be the decision-maker on taxation,” she said.

She noted that the judgment strengthens accountability in fiscal governance and ensures that any future changes to VAT must occur through proper legislative processes.