Velenkosini Hlabisa calls for accountability and focus on delivery, saying the budget will boost jobs, services and economic growth.
Inkatha Freedom Party president Velenkosini Hlabisa has shown confidence in the ability of the Government of National Unity (GNU) to find a solution to the current budget impasse.
He said the GNU formation was the right thing to do and remains so even to date.
The IFP voted for the budget because the party believed it could deliver the services to the poorest of the poor.
NB issues shouldn’t be blocked by VAT dispute – Hlabisa
Hlabisa stated that despite the differences over budget issues such as the value-added tax increase of 0.5% over the next two financial years, other important issues in the budget should not be blocked by the VAT dispute among the parties within the GNU.
The DA challenged the legality of the 2025 budget process after the budget framework was voted on by 194 to 182 in favour of passing it in Parliament.
Hlabisa, whose party voted in favour of the budget, said the budget needed to be passed to enable the government to deliver services to the people without delay.
‘People need service from the people; this is the first budget of the GNU,” Hlabisa said.
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“The IFP is satisfied that a budget is not the 0.5% VAT; it has a number of issues that would be of great benefit to our people, right from creating job opportunities through the billions of rands invested in infrastructure to investing in water and sanitation and invested on electricity and energy. The construction of works would see many people employed, particularly the poorest of the poor, as the budget was pro-poor,” he added.
Hlabisa, who is Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the GNU, said among the benefits of the budget allocations were the increases in social grants and the expansion of the zero-rated foodstuff basket that would also benefit the poor.
The budget also ensured that billions of rand were invested in healthcare, including the employment of doctors and nurses, he said.
Benefits of budget allocations
“These people will be working in public hospitals, not in private hospitals. The beneficiaries out of these doctors and nurses are the poorest of the people, not the rich,” he said.
He said R11 billion was injected to employ teachers whose skills would benefit ordinary people, communities and their children.
According to Hlabisa, public servants’ salary increases over the medium term were important because those were breadwinners in their communities.
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“So, the budget is not just about the 0.5% increase, but it has more benefits that cushion households. The people who benefit more in terms of free water, free electricity and early childhood education in the early childhood centres derived this from the budget.
“Our eyes were open; we studied the budget. We do not want to play cheap popularity and be saying we are fighting for the poor, yet we are suppressing the poor. If you look closely at the budget, the budget talks to the poorest of the poor,” Hlabisa said.
He said the budget was approved by Cabinet, including agreeing on how to ensure economic growth and where to make cuts in order to cover the budgetary shortfall without compromising service delivery.
The shortfall was also budgeted to be covered by the 0.5% VAT hike, which some parties were now opposing.
Optimistic that GNU will find solutions to impasse
Hlabisa remained optimistic that they would be able to find solutions to the budget impasse, but he cautioned that people must not be misled into thinking that the budget revolved around the 0.5% VAT increase because there were billions of rands budgeted for other programmes in it.
He challenged voters and citizens to hold the government accountable for its promises on a quarterly basis.
“The government must account as to how far have we gone to execute the budget, how many jobs have been created and how many people have been employed in the department of health and education as provided in the budget. In terms of the execution of the budget, it’s not going to be business as usual, this is a different government under the combination of more than one party,” Hlabisa said.
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