Godongwana delivers Budget 3.0 without VAT hike
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says there's no shame in delivering his third budget speech without President Cyril Ramaphosa or Deputy President Paul Mashatile present.
The President is attending the proceedings virtually from the US, where he is due to meet with Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon.
The Deputy President is in France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe is in charge of the country.
"One of the choices we had in discussing with the President was whether we could postpone the budget or we could postpone the trip. We decided that we could not postpone any of the two. We simply can't extend the budget beyond the 30th of July because departments after the 30th of July will only be accessible to 10% of their budget. There are serious implications for that. It may mean that we may have to close government."
Despite boos from some MPs, Godongwana continued to present a trimmed and revised budget vote.
He first clarified that VAT will remain at 15%.
" The decision reflects our commitment to listen to South Africans. This is what the past two months have provided: valuable lessons that will inform how we manage the budget process moving forward.
"The reality, however, is that the decision to do away with VAT increase, without a viable alternative source of revenue, significantly reduces our ability to fund additional government programs and projects to the extent we are deemed necessary. Nevertheless, this budget supports sustainable finances, the social wage and investments in economic growth."
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