South Africa’s parliament is expected to meet this afternoon to vote on the country’s 2025 budget fiscal framework — the part of the budget that outlines how much money government plans to spend and how it plans to raise it, including taxes like VAT.
What to expect from today’s Budget vote
The vote comes with a lot of political tension. The African National Congress (ANC), which leads the Government of National Unity (GNU), is trying to push the budget framework through.
However, its biggest coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is not supporting the proposal. The DA says it will reject the budget, mostly because of the planned 0.5% increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) — a tax added to most goods and services.
Talks between the ANC and DA have collapsed. The DA is also unhappy with other parts of the budget and has demanded changes such as the shutdown of the National Youth Development Agency and stronger oversight by their Deputy Finance Minister.
The ANC says these demands go beyond what the budget is supposed to deal with.
Because of the tension, the ANC had to get help from smaller parties to build enough support.
On Tuesday, a key finance committee approved the fiscal framework — but not without drama. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), another opposition party, called the approval “illegal” and wants today’s vote in the National Assembly to be stopped. They have threatened to take legal action.
Even though the ANC only has 159 of the 201 votes needed to pass the budget in the National Assembly, it has built support by working with other parties.
With backing from the IFP, ActionSA, and others, it now has 200 votes — just one short. It’s still talking to other parties like Bosa and the ACDP to secure the final vote needed.
How to watch Budget vote 2025 live in South Africa
The Budget vote will take place this afternoon in Parliament. While the exact time has not been officially confirmed, it will be streamed live online once Parliament goes into session.
The live stream will be available on Parliament’s official YouTube channel and other government streaming platforms.
We will embed the live stream link on this page as soon as it becomes available.
Once the vote happens, we will also report on whether it passed or failed and what the immediate outcomes are for the country.