Gnu In Crisis: Da Sends Warning To Anc Over Eff Amid Budget Impasse

The Democratic Alliance DA will walk out of the government of national unity GNU if the African National Congress ANC brings in the Economic Freedom Fighters EFF to pass the budget.

This is according to DA leader John Steenhuisen, who told Bloomberg on Friday 28 March that the party wanted to influence economic policy.

"If they want to do a deal with the EFF, then they must reap the consequences, both for governance and the economy ," Steenhuisen reportedly said.

Responding to a question on whether the GNU could collapse or not, he added, "If the ANC bring the EFF in, then I assume it will."

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Friday, DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp said the party would see it as a vote of no confidence in the GNU if the ANC garnered support for the budget from parties outside the coalition.

If ANC is going to get parties in from outside the GNU to pass the budget, then they are welcome to go and govern with those parties. We will not part of a government where we were excluded in the formation of the budget, he explained.

Reports indicate that the DA is attempting to extract major concessions from the ANC in exchange for supporting a proposed 0.5 percentage-point increase in value added tax VAT in the 2025 budget.

The DA has sent a letter to the President Cyril Ramaphosa accepting VAT increase in exchange for things that are outside the budget, like the Expropriation Act, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told Parliament on Friday.

The DA has also sought an overarching deal to share control over the countrys economic agenda, News24 reported .

However, the ANC has reportedly rejected this proposal, sparking concerns that the end of the GNU may be in sight.