THE collapse of budget talks between the ANC and DA may lead to the reconfiguration of the Government of National Unity (GNU), especially when people in the DA are using the budget for political scoring, says the ANC.

While expressing their commitment to the GNU, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the ongoing squabbles will force them to relook the coalition government's structure.

The ANC has been in talks with several political parties in and outside the GNU, including the DA in a bid to get support for the budget. The party was struggling to garner enough support to have the budget, which contains a 1% VAT increase over two years, passed in Parliament.

“If you engage with these processes based on political scoring, it may lead to situations in which the GNU itself, at the ultimate, given the outcome, has to be reconfigured. The ANC is committed to the GNU with all its partners, but the maturity of these partners is very important for the GNU,” he said.

Despite the ongoing talks, the DA leader John Steenhuisen said the ANC refused to finalise an agreement on growth and spending reforms, as well as imperiling the GNU.

The DA will oppose the budget unless and until a written agreement is reached, he said. The ANC has instead turned towards smaller parties for support, leaving the DA hanging.

Responding to this, Mbalula said the negotiations were still ongoing, urging the DA to come back to its sense of reality and not what they want to push.

“I believe we are moving closer to each other, we will now move to having an agreement on the budget. We have no intention of wielding an axe, they will cut themselves out,” he said.

Steenhuisen was expected to meet with ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of Wednesday’s much anticipated budget vote.

Both the Presidency and the DA have confirmed the upcoming meeting.

The DA cancelled its 8.30am briefing Tuesday after Steenhuisen took to social media, accusing the ANC of “imperiling the GNU” by refusing to finalise an agreement on growth and spending reforms.

ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli said that the Budget was geared towards massive investment in infrastructure as well as health and growing the economy.

“The ANC is absolutely confident that having listened to all political parties in Parliament we have sufficient consensus to go through the portfolio committee and agree on a fiscal framework,” said Ntuli, adding that they were refining how to go about dealing with the VAT increase.

DA spokesperson on finance Mark Burke said his party had proposed alternatives that did not punish South Africans with more tax.

“While we have been open-minded, and we have taken the posture of collaboration with our partner, the ANC has failed to agree to the reforms that we need to get the economy going, and if we get the economy going for our revenue to increase over time so we don’t need to increase taxes.

“Because of this refusal from the ANC to agree to reasonable politically neutral measures, I have now been mandated to go into this committee to amend the fiscal framework that there will be no VAT increases,” Burke said moments before the joint meeting of the Select Committee on Finance and Standing Committee on Finance.

Cape Times