The News
South Africa’s national budget announcement has been postponed due to a lack of agreement over a key tax proposal, the speaker of the National Assembly said on Wednesday.
The Democratic Alliance, a main coalition partner with the African National Congress (ANC), opposed a proposal to increase value-added tax by 2%.
The ANC was forced into a coalition for the first time last year, meaning that the party now requires the support of other parties in order to pass a budget.
It followed decades of sole rule by the ANC during which the country’s borrowing more than doubled, while economic growth has stagnated recently. Now the DA is “requesting a serious effort” to reduce the debt burden if it is to remain in the coalition, The Economist wrote.
Complicating matters further, Washington recently decided to suspend aid to South Africa in response to what it says are unfair land redistribution laws.
