CAPE TOWN, April 2 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA)partyon Wednesday rejected the country’s contested budget as lawmakers gathered to vote on it in parliament.
The budget has been the sternest test of the broad coalition government formed last year after the African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since apartheid ended in 1994.
The budget was meant to be presented in February but was postponed at the last minute, before a revised version was presented last month. Its most contentious elements include proposals to raise value-added tax and not adjust personal income tax brackets for inflation.
Lawmakers are due to vote later on Wednesday on a report by a key parliamentary committee supporting the budget’s fiscal framework and revenue proposals.
The DA and two big opposition parties say the process that led to the adoption of the report on Tuesday was flawed.
“As the DA, we will remain on our course of growth and jobs and vote firmly against this farce of a report. We reject it,” DA lawmaker Mark Burke told a sitting of parliament.
“If we’re forced to exit this government for driving a growth and jobs agenda, then so be it,” Burke added.
The ANC’s Joe Maswanganyi, chair of the committee that adopted the report, urged members of parliament to approve the fiscal framework and revenue proposals.
The ANC and DA, the two biggest parties in the coalition, have negotiated for weeks to try to agree a deal on the budget but have failed to do so.
The rand ZAR=D3 has weakened over the past few days as the prospect of a deal between the ANC and DA has receded.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said on Wednesday that Ramaphosa was still committed to the coalition with the DA.
The speaker of parliament earlier rejected calls to postpone Wednesday’s budget vote.
(Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Sfundo Parakozov; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Michael Perry, Aidan Lewis and Ed Osmond)
