The 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA) Debate at the Parliamentary Dome in Cape Town on Day 01 on February 11, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Jeffrey Abrahams) Parliament’s legislators had their hands full since the new term began in June last year. Among the many highlights that gripped the nation were the long stalemate over the adoption of the national budget.
The majority of opposition parties, including the DA, rejected the 2% VAT increase tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on 12 March. The budget was finally passed by consensus on 23 July, after the two biggest parties, the ANC and the DA, who are the anchors of the government of national unity, found common ground. It was agreed on the reduced 0.5% instead of the initial proposed 2%, with another 0.5% for 2026.
It was given the greenlight by a majority vote in the 400-seat National Assembly. The heat generated by the budget overshadowed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) in February. In contrast to the budget, the Sona was welcomed by the majority, but disapproved by the uMkhonto weSizwe party and Julius Malema’s EFF.
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More heat was generated by the parliamentary ad hoc committee probing allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. The seventh parliament has seen much change since the May 2024 national and provincial elections, with the former opposition party members chairing portfolio committees. This was necessitated because the ANC no longer has a majority, after it received only 40% at the May polls.
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