Opposition parties on Wednesday expressed mixed reaction to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s third Budget speech, with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) officially tabling a motion of censure against Godongwana, citing “gross incompetence, chaotic budgetary process and ongoing neglect of the socioeconomic crisis gripping the country”.

Following two failed attempts to deliver the Budget, Godongwana delivered the latest version, which excludes earlier proposals to increase the value-added tax (VAT) rate.

The MKP also tabled a vote of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa, who it said shown “dereliction of duty, failed leadership and betrayal of the poor and working class”.

MKP national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela pointed to record-high unemployment, poverty, inequality and hunger, which he said the Budget should have addressed head-on.

The MKP described Godongwana’s Budget speech as a “hollow and anti-poor Budget”, which it said burdened the most vulnerable through fuel levy increases and the removal of essential zero-rated VAT items. The party says the Budget does not offer meaningful proposals to resolve South Africa’s “deep structural crises”.

The party rejected the Budget 3.0, describing it as “another exercise in political theatre”, and “a desperate attempt to repackage failure”.

The MKP called for an expanded VAT zero-rated basket to include all essential food and sanitary items and Ndhlela said his party wanted mineral resources to be nationalised and land redistribution without compensation accelerated.

Meanwhile, the GOOD Party said it was “regrettable” that dropping the VAT increase from the Budget was accompanied by dropping the expansion of zero-rated basic foodstuffs.

The party argued that this was a setback for indigent families, and said the Budget’s failure to adjust for income tax bracket creep was a setback for the working class.

GOOD secretary-general Brett Herron said that instead of adding a “more-or-less” inflationary percentage to last year’s Budget items, the zero-based budgeting approach allocated resources to meet priority needs.

Herron pointed out that it was also regrettable that, while there was an increase to the Old Age Grant, there were no increases announced for child and disability grants.

“Retaining the SRD Grant until next March buys time; the level of unemployment and poverty requires the State to find the means to fund a Basic Income Grant of a quantum sufficient to sustain life and dignity.

“Increasing the fuel levy isn’t great because increased fuel costs lead to price increases of most goods and services, but the Minister had to raise additional revenue somewhere. He missed a beat by keeping sin tax tariff increases low. There is a lot of scope to further raise the costs of tobacco and alcohol,” he said.

He stated that a more “creative-minded Minister” would have expanded sin taxes to cover items such as luxury motor vehicles and properties beyond a primary dwelling.

SARS

ActionSA welcomed the additional R7.5-billion allocated to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) over the medium term, an investment which it said it had long championed.

“However, we reject the regressive suite of taxes and levies, particularly in the absence of meaningful action to curb government wastage,” said ActionSA MP Alan Beesley.

Beesley pointed out that while ordinary South Africans were still being forced to carry the burden of an extra R22-billion through income tax bracket creep, an increase in the fuel levy, and excise duty hikes, the funding boost to Sars marked a critical step in the right direction.

“As we have consistently argued, empowering Sars with the resources it needs is expected to yield between R20-billion and R50-billion in additional revenue collection annually,” he noted.

Godongwana confirmed that Sars’ performance would be monitored monthly, with the potential for R20-billion in tax relief to be granted in the 2026 Budget if revenue collection exceeded targets.

ActionSA expressed confidence that Sars would deliver on this promise, helping to ease the financial pressure on struggling South Africans.

Beesley said his party was deeply disappointed that there was no additional funding in Budget 3.0 to prioritise strengthening the National Prosecuting Authority.

“…this corruption strangles economic growth and robs South Africans of the dignity of receiving basic services. Budget 3.0 should have laid the foundation for long-term, sustainable economic growth. With GDP growth of just 0.8% for 2024, well below that of peer nations, South Africa urgently needs structural reform. The Government of National Unity’s downgrade of its own 2025 growth forecast from 1.9% to 1.4% is a damning admission of its failure to lead. Policy paralysis continues to worsen the unemployment crisis,” he stated.

WORKABLE OUTCOME

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) supported Godongwana’s Budget proposal, which it said was “a manifestation of coalition politics in action”.

“…it is a workable outcome in the context of trying economic times. Overall, we see this Budget speech as a turning of the tide toward growth and investment. It is turning away from unchecked government spending funded by South African taxpayers,” said DA spokesperson on Finance Dr Mark Burke.

The DA said it welcomed no increase to VAT; a R1-trillion investment in infrastructure over the coming three years and no new bailouts for State-owned entities.

It also noted a national spending review, which must eliminate all unproductive and wasteful spending of public money and end low priority projects.

It welcomed a proposed full-scale audit of ghost employees across government, to stop the draining of billions in fraudulent salary payments, as well as a reduction in the additions to the budget baseline which earlier versions of the Budget proposed, meaning R40-billion had been saved.

The DA said it also noted and welcomed that more realistic economic growth forecasts had been used to model revenue in this version of the Budget.