Enoch Godongwana Ordered to Table Budget Afresh in Parliament After Court Order

• The Western Cape High Court set aside the VAT hike and ordered that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana table a new budget
• This was after the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters won their case against the VAT hike implementation
• The Speaker of Parliament, Thoko Didiza, directed Godongwana to draft a new Fiscal Framework and South Africans reacted to the news
• Dr Kenneth Creamer, an economist at Wits University, spoke to Briefly News about the budget

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, cabinet reshuffles, the State of the Nation Address, Parliament and Parliamentary committees, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

WESTERN CAPE — The Western Cape High Court has ordered Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to go back to the drawing board and draft a new budget. It also ordered that the 0.5% VAT increase implementation be halted.

What did the Western Cape High Court say?

On 27 April 2025, the court ordered that the VAT hike be suspended until Parliament passes legislation that will make Godongwana's decision to reverse the VAT hike an Act. The order also set aside the budget Godongwana tabled in March and ordered that he table a new budget.

What did Parliament say?

The Speaker of Parliament, Thoko Didiza, said in a memorandum to Chief Whips in Parliament that she has asked Godongwana when he will table a new budget after the budget he tabled was set aside. She also confirmed that the court order set aside the VAT increase, which was to come into effect on 1 May and 1 April 2026.

Democratic Alliance celebrates court order

The Democratic Alliance posted a statement on its @Our_DA X account celebrating the court order. The party said it was pleased that Godongwana came back to the table and agreed to suspend the VAT increase lawfully. The party remarked that the order gave South Africans certainty that changes affecting their finances would not happen without necessary checks and balances.

Read the X statement here:

ANC notes the court order

The African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula shared the party's response to the court order. The party said the court decision was made on the merits of the application that was brought before it by the applicants.

View the X statement here:

Economist speaks to Briefly News

Dr Kenneth Creamer, an economist at Wits University, spoke to Briefly News about the tabling of a new budget.

"The confusion and contestation around South Africa’s first GNU budget has raised several critical issues that will have to be better resolved if South Africa is going to continue to be led by coalition governments in the years ahead. The credibility of the budget process requires that internally coherent and fiscally sustainable policies guide taxation, spending and borrowing decisions.

"Due to the general bias towards spending and bias against taxation, it will be very dangerous for South Africa’s financial health if budget decisions simply become the product of political horse trading, rather than a product of serious planning aimed at sustainably improving service delivery, economic growth and employment," he said.

South Africans react

Netizens commenting on the DA's tweet shared their views.

Lawrence Jacobson said:

"Great work on getting this farce cancelled. The real work to develop a growth budget must now begin."

Sikizwe Ntuli said:

"Well done, DA and EFF. Please don't get tired, because Herman Mashaba, Mmusi Maimane, Songezo Zibi and the PA are now joining the team of ANC crooks."

Gumgedle said:

"No more extortion? VAT issue was resolved already by the ANC and other parties. Stop claiming cheap political points. VAT increase was not going to happen on the 1st of May anyway."

EqualworldSA said:

"Now courts are making decisions for Parliament. This actually means judges are our leaders, yet we never voted for them."

Raymond said:

"You were going to vote in favour of an increase of VAT if the ANC scrapped the BELA Bill and the Expropriation Act."

DA files supplementary affidavit to block VAT increase

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the DA filed a supplementary affidavit to prevent the VAT increase from being implemented on 1 May. It filed the affidavit after Godongwana reached an out-of-court settlement in the VAT increase case.

The party said only a court order from the Western Cape High Court could stop the VAT increase from being implemented on 1 May. The affidavit was part of an ongoing battle to have the VAT increase scrapped.

Source: Briefly News