Godongwana is set to table the new revised Budget Speech in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The streets of Pretoria, Church Square, are expected to be painted with green, black and yellow as MK Party members will be demonstrating to the National Treasury offices against the proposed VAT hike.
JOHANNESBURG – The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has threatened country-wide protests if value-added tax (VAT) is raised.
Hundreds of the party’s supporters marched to the Pretoria offices of National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Monday.
The country’s official opposition party said these entities should play their part and ensure that South Africans don’t suffer.
February’s budget was postponed after a disagreement between parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) about a proposal to raise VAT.
Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana will have a second go at delivering his speech on Wednesday.
The MK Party said there are other avenues for the government to raise money to fund the budget outside of increasing VAT.
It has proposed raising the corporate tax by one percentage point, introducing a wealth tax for the top 1% of earners, and capacitating South African Revenue Service (SARS), so it can decrease its R800 billion tax gap.
Jacob Zuma’s MK Party said the march seeks to highlight harmful effects of VAT increase on low-income households and small businesses.
The party also stressed that the march will focus on issues such as the regressive nature of VAT, its disproportionate impact on the poor, the need for a more equitable tax system, and the challenges that VAT poses for entrepreneurs and small businesses
The MK Party will also be demonstrating against the liquidation of the Ithala Bank.
