ActionSA dishonesty continues: The DA opposed the VAT hike from the start

Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Karabo Khakhau MP.

The latest disinformation campaign launched by Alan Beesley and ActionSA regarding the national budget is a weak attempt at deflecting the fact that Mr Beesley remains a midwife of tax increases when he helped the ANC ram through the fiscal framework.

ActionSA’s claim that the DA was “complicit” in the proposed 2 percentage point VAT increase is not only false — it is deliberately misleading.

Here are the facts:

1. The DA was consulted on the draft budget on 7 February 2025.
2. The DA stated our opposition to a 2% VAT increase.
3. For the next two weeks, the DA continued to reiterate this position. This was reported in multiple papers in the aftermath of the budget being abandoned and the DA confirmed this publicly. On the 23rd of February, in the lead article in the Sunday Times, Helen Zille is quoted as saying: “There were several meetings that were happening, the contents of which were confidential. All I am at liberty to say is that the DA made it clear we would not support a tax increase.”
4. ⁠No cabinet meeting was called to discuss the budget until the 19th of February.
5. On 19 February, the day the budget was due to be tabled, the DA led the charge against the VAT hike.
6. The result: the budget was abandoned and could not be tabled that day.

The DA acted decisively and consistently to stop an unjust tax hike that would have hurt South Africa’s poorest households. The idea that a Deputy Minister being consulted — as is standard in budget preparation — equates to support or complicity, is pure dishonesty.

ActionSA was not present in the budget process, has no access to internal deliberations, and is simply exploiting parliamentary procedure to peddle misinformation. The question ActionSA released indicates it was published in 28 February 2025, but it was only released on 21 April 2025, further demonstrating the dishonestly of Beesley and ActionSA.

Their press statement is a textbook example of political opportunism.

ActionSA acted to help pass a flawed fiscal framework with tax increases. The DA acted when it mattered — and we stopped the 2% VAT hike, and today we are in court to stop the 0.5% VAT hike.