Crux of DA-EFF plan to fight the VAT hike and Budget process

The EFF has applied to join the DA’s urgent legal action that seeks to set aside Parliament's “fundamentally flawed” adoption of the fiscal framework and interdict the implementation of the 0.5 percentage point VAT increase set for 1 May.

- By Victoria O'Regan

In its papers filed in the High Court in Cape Town on 8 April, the EFF calls the adoption of the fiscal framework “unlawful and unconstitutional”. In a statement, EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said the party had taken this step because Parliament could not continue to “operate as a rubber stamp for the executive”.

“The court application is a necessary and principled intervention to protect the democratic character of Parliament, and to ensure that the processes that determine the use of public resources are not reduced to unlawful and illegal processes by the ruling party,” Thambo said.

After the adoption of the fiscal framework on 2 April, DA federal chairperson Helen Zille filed court papers the next day to challenge the legality of the process undertaken by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP), as well as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s power to change the VAT rate under section 7(4) of the Value-Added Tax Act, which the party says is unconstitutional.

In her founding affidavit, Zille named Godongwana, South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Edward Kieswetter, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and NCOP chairperson Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane as respondents in the matter.

The hearing in the case is scheduled to begin on 22 April.

What is the DA's case about?

The DA has approached the high court in two parts. According to Zille’s founding affidavit, in part A of its application the party is seeking orders that set aside the “fundamentally flawed” decisions of both Houses of Parliament to adopt the fiscal framework and send it back to the standing committee on finance and select committee on finance for reconsideration. Second, it wants an order that suspends the implementation of Godongwana’s decision to hike VAT on 1 May pending the final determination of part B.