Da Ministers Should Be Ashamed To Work In Gnu After Voting Against Budget: Mashatile

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has criticised ministers from the Democratic Alliance DA for reporting to work after voting against the budget in Parliament last week.

Parliament passed the budgets fiscal framework and revenue proposals without the DAs support. It is the second largest party in the government of national unity after the African National Congress ANC.

Speaking at a breakfast event hosted by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation on Monday 7 April, Mashatile said he would be ashamed if he was a DA minister.

Some of them are still working today as ministers. I would be ashamed to do that, because where does the budget come from? You run to work as a minister, you have not voted for the budget, but you think its okay, he said.

The DA has publicly opposed the 0.5 percentage-point value added tax VAT increase in the budget. However, ANC leaders have claimed that it privately offered to support it in exchange for concessions on other policy issues.

It has also filed a court challenge against Parliaments adoption of the fiscal framework along with an interdict application against the VAT hike.

The ANCs National Working Committee NWC was scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the GNUs future following the DAs hardline stance on the budget.

Last week, Mashatile and President Cyril Ramaphosa told the ANC caucus in Parliament that the DA would be defining itself outside the GNU if it opposed the budget.

ANCs chief whip, Mdumiseni Ntuli, also slammed the DA. "You can't have cabinet ministers voting against a major national decision agreed by cabinet. We must strive to maintain the GNU, but not at all costs, and it can't be everyone for themselves but only God for all of us," he told Daily Maverick over the weekend.