After a meeting on Friday where the ANC attempted to woo ActionSA to join its quest for the budget to be passed after an impasse in the government of national unity (GNU), the Herman Mashaba-led party has pressed pause on the negotiations. 

The Sunday Times previously reported the ANC had met with political parties outside the GNU last week to ensure finance minister Enoch Godongwana's budget is passed without a hitch. ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli and monitoring and evaluations minister Maropeni Ramokgopa were tasked with meeting the EFF, ActionSA and the MK Party. 

Ntuli said an agreement was reached during the meeting with ActionSA for the party to draw up its proposals and demands for it to join the ANC and pass the budget. The demands would have been sent to the ANC on Monday. 

However, on Monday ActionSA announced it had written to the ANC task team negotiating the passage of the 2025/26 budget to convey it will not support the budget.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the decision came after a cordial meeting between the two parties on Friday, during which ActionSA made itself available to listen to the ANC’s proposals in a manner consistent with its position as a constructive opposition party.

“In our letter to the ANC, ActionSA conveyed the view that the proposed increases in VAT and income tax through income tax bracket creep cannot be supported for a government that has failed to address its own considerable wastage and inefficiencies,” he said.

“Central to our decision is the reality that this budget arises from a GNU that did not consult ActionSA in the development of the proposed budget. ActionSA cannot impose tax increases on South Africans to support those in the GNU who are notionally opposed to the increases yet continue implementing them at the expense of South Africans.”

The decision by ActionSA presents another headache for the ANC, which is running out of options. According to insiders, the EFF has placed a condition for its support, demanding the ANC include it in the GNU and kick out the DA.

However, EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini told the media the party would not support the 0.5 percentage point VAT increase proposed for the next two financial years. 

The Sunday Times report stated ANC insiders claimed the party is making contingency measures to mitigate against a possible exit by the DA. The ANC leaders said EFF leader Julius Malema had indicated he would want to join the GNU, and the EFF would be the last resort. They said there was a fear that colluding with the EFF would create a worse impression of the GNU among global players.

“I can confidently say if the DA leaves the GNU, Mashaba will be more comfortable to join. But in terms of the budget, ActionSA is important because the GNU has 287 of the 400 MPs. The DA has 87 and if you take them out we have 200. If you count out the FF Plus, we have 194. The moment you bring in ActionSA, you go back to 200 — and if we can get another smaller party, maybe with two seats, we have the numbers we need,” one ANC leader told the weekend paper. 

Beaumont said the party has communicated its view that either the votes to approve the  budget must come from parties within the GNU or a new government capable of passing a budget must be constituted.

“ActionSA remains committed to being a constructive opposition to an incoherent GNU that is forcing our country into an unprecedented budget and constitutional crisis, leaving spheres of government and organs of state uncertain about their financial allocations. ActionSA calls on all parties in the GNU to engage in negotiations with maturity and in the best interests of the country or step aside if they are unwilling to do so.”