South Africa\u2019s national budget presentation, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed to March 12 due to internal disagreements within the country\u2019s ruling coalition. This marks the first such delay in the post-apartheid era.<\/p>\n
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National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza described the situation as \u201cunprecedented in the past 30 years,\u201d highlighting the growing tensions within the coalition government led by the African National Congress (ANC).<\/p>\n
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VAT Hike Sparks Political Deadlock<\/p>\n
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The ANC, which lost its parliamentary majority in last year\u2019s election, has been relying on coalition partners to push through key financial policies. However, its main ally, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has opposed a proposed two-percentage-point increase in value-added tax (VAT), leading to the current deadlock.<\/p>\n
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The ANC argues that the VAT increase is necessary to address funding gaps in education and social programs, but opposition parties and labor unions have strongly resisted the move, citing concerns over the impact on low-income households. The last VAT increase took place in 2018, and another hike is seen as politically sensitive.<\/p>\n
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Financial Markets React<\/p>\n
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The budget delay has already rattled financial markets, with the South African rand dropping by 1% against the US dollar. Investors fear that continued political instability could weaken the country\u2019s ability to implement economic reforms.<\/p>\n
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South Africa, the continent\u2019s most industrialized economy, has been grappling with slow economic growth, rising public debt, and high unemployment in the years following the 2008-09 global financial crisis.<\/p>\n
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As the new budget date approaches, all eyes will be on the coalition government\u2019s ability to reach a consensus and avoid further economic uncertainty.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South Africa\u2019s national budget presentation, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed to March 12 due to internal disagreements within the country\u2019s ruling coalition. This marks the first such delay in the post-apartheid era. National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza described the situation as \u201cunprecedented in the past 30 years,\u201d highlighting the growing tensions within<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16],"tags":[285,472,266],"class_list":{"0":"post-10521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-business","9":"tag-amnewsworld","10":"tag-pretoria","11":"tag-reporters"},"yoast_head":"\n