South Africa’s budget announcement by the finance minister has been abruptly canceled and rescheduled for next month over a dispute among parties in the governing coalition
ByThe Associated Press
February 19, 2025, 9: 57 AM
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The South African government’s annual presentation of its budget was abruptly canceled Wednesday and rescheduled for next month over a dispute among parties in the governing coalition.
The finance minister’s budget speech normally takes place in February. Parliament Speaker Thoko Didiza said it was the first time that the presentation had been canceled over such a disagreement in the 31 years of South Africa’s democracy after the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.
South Africa has a 10-party coalition in government after the long-ruling African National Congress, or ANC, lost its majority in an election last year for the first time since apartheid ended. That means it cannot pass the budget without support from other parties in Parliament.
The Democratic Alliance, the country’s second biggest party, said the budget postponement was over a 2% increase in value-added tax proposed by the ANC. The DA said in a statement that the tax increase “would have broken the back of our economy.”
The budget delay came just over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa to be cut over a contentious land law. The move by Trump was expected to put pressure on South Africa’s government to find funds to plug g