By Simon Nare
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni had no answers on Thursday on when the Government of National Unity would finalise the 2025 Budget after its abrupt postponement earlier this month.
Ntshavheni told journalists following a Cabinet meeting update in Cape Town that discussions on the postponement were ongoing but could not provide details on the nature of the discussions.
The postponement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana shocked the nation after it emerged that the minister had proposed a two-percentage point increase VAT, which has been widely been rejected.
Ntshavheni dismissed as unfounded rumours that the postponement followed fierce and sustained opposition by the DA due to a lack of consultation between coalition parties in the government.
“The rumours of contestations are just that rumours. In Cabinet we don’t have political parties and we don’t have people representing their political parties. We have got members of Cabinet appointed by the president of the republic who serve at the pleasure of the president,” Ntshavheni said.
She said Cabinet members had taken oath to serve the country and not their political parties.
The minister could not shed light on whether Godongwana was going to abandon the VAT increase or go for a wealth tax as reported by some media houses.
She could also not say whether the government would go for the last option of a loan which would sink the country further into debt. She dismissed all the reports as speculation or rumours.
“Cabinet assures South Africans that deliberations within Cabinet on the 2025 National Budget are continuing to determine the best ways to fund our national priorities and ensure the budget reflects the aspirations of all South Africans.
“The postponement, while it is the first in the history of South Africa, but not out of the norm in other jurisdictions, it is still within the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act,’ she said.
The minister shared some details on several matters, ranging from the current G20 activities and the war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
She highlighted some of the G20 historic meetings that have taken place during the country’s G20 presidency, including the First Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the Finance Ministers’ Meetings and other meetings such as working groups on education and women empowerment.
On labour, the minister said the Cabinet welcomed the slight decrease in employment.
She said it marked the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2023.
“The country’s unemployment rate decreased to 31.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 32.1% in the previous quarter. The number of employed people increased by 132,000 to 17.1 million while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 20,000 to eight million during the same quarter,” said Ntshavheni .
She reiterated promises by her colleagues in The Presidency, committing the government to creating jobs with a special focus on youth employment programmes through the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.
She said it had so far created 2.2 million job opportunities for young people.
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