South Africa postpones budget presentation over lack of agreement

South Africa’s national budget meant to be presented on Wednesday has been postponed until further notice due to lack of agreement.

The speaker of the National Assembly said this year the African National Congress will need the support of other parties to pass the budget, as it lost its parliamentary majority in an election in 2024.

Its main partner in the coalition government that emerged last year, the Democratic Alliance, said the budget had been postponed because of its opposition to the ANC’s proposal to increase value-added tax (VAT) by 2 percentage points.

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Speaker Thoko Didiza told lawmakers that budget proceedings had never been postponed like this in the three decades since the end of apartheid.

The local rand currency extended losses after the budget was delayed, at one point trading down 1 per cent against the dollar on the day.