EFF Welcomes Western Cape High Court’s Judgement To Set Budget Aside

• The Economic Freedom Fighters celebrated the Western Cape High Court's decision to suspend the VAT hike
• The court delivered the ruling on 27 April and the Red Berets welcomed the ruling which halted the increase of VAT
• The party further called for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to resign from his post

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.

JOHANNESBURG — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on 28 April 2025 welcomed the Western Cape High Court's 27 April ruling to suspend the VAT hike and to set the budget aside. The party also renewed its calls for finance minister Enoch Godongwana to resign from his position.

What did the EFF say?

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The EFF released a statement of EFF president Julius Malema's remarks on its @EFFSouthAfrica X account. Malema held a press briefing after the Western Cape high Court's ruling. The suspension followed a decision by Godongwana to scrap the VAT increase and settle out of court with the EFF and the Democratic Alliance.

He said the VAT suspension is a necessary intervention at a time when South Africans are suffering under the burden of the high cost of living, skyrocketing food prices, unaffordable electricity tariffs and record petrol prices.

Malema bashes Godongwana

He also slammed Godongwana. He said the VAT saga began when Godongwana tried to table the original budget on 19 February 2024 before postponing the budget speech.

"That budget collapsed under the weight of public and political rejection of the proposal to increase VAT by 2 percentage points and the refusal to implement an inflationary adjustment of income tax brackets.

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"The EFF was among the first political parties to declare that the minister of finance failed to appreciate the depth of South Africa's economic crisis, even as he reluctantly conceded that austerity budgeting had to end and rejected the first budget unconditionally," he said.

What does the EFF recommend?

The EFF made proposals that would grow the economy without increasing the VAT. These include adjusting the personal income tax brackets to 4.5% to prevent bracket creep, increase corporate income tax from 27% to 28.5% in 2025/26 and to 30.5% in 2026/27.

The party also suggested that a wealth tax should be introduced on underutilised and luxury landholdings to raise at least R7.5 billion annually. The party recommended that the government allocate R4 billion in the 2025/26 financial year to strengthen the South African Revenue Service's capacity to fight illicit financial flows and recover unpaid taxes.

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"This ruling is not just a victory for the EFF. It's a victory for the people of South Africa. It is a victory for the rule of law. It is a victory for the poor and working class, who would have suffered greatly under the VAT increase," he said.

Read the X statement here:

MK Party files a motion of no confidence against Godongwana

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the MK Party has filed a motion of no confidence against Godongwana. This was after he scrapped the VAT increase and reached an out-of-court settlement with the EFF and DA.

The party said Godongwana was incapable and is in no position to lead the finance ministry. It called him out for implementing the VAT increase in the first place.

Source: Briefly News