Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Omphile Maotwe says the red berets would not support the 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Bill, accusing Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson Helen Zille of using the national budget as a political weapon within the Government of National Unity.

“The EFF rejects the proposed appropriation bill tabled by the minister of finance,” Maotwe said during a sitting at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Wednesday.

“We have participated in many plenary debates and made concrete and substantive submissions of practical amendments that are going to give us the people’s budget.”

The sitting included consideration of the Standing Committee on Appropriations’ report on the bill, a debate, votes on departmental budgets, and the second reading of the bill – the final vote required to pass the national budget.

Maotwe said the EFF had submitted proposals across all departmental votes, from the presidency to the final vote, and stressed that they reflected the lived experiences of communities across the country.

“We did not come here to play internal coalition games,” she said. 

“We came here to make sure the voices of communities from Giyani to Atlantis, from Lusikisiki to Khuma are heard in this house.”

She pointed out service delivery failures, such as missing funds for a promised bridge in Diepsloot, ongoing water issues in Jozini, and a lack of disaster relief following floods in Mthatha.

“Our people in Marikana, Taung, Kwandebele, Mamelodi, and Thohoyandou continue to tell us that the budget before the House will not increase government spending, will not eradicate pit toilets, cannot hire more doctors, nurses, teachers, will not grow the economy, and will make them even poorer,” Maotwe said.

She accused Zille of treating the budget as a tool to manage internal power struggles within the GNU, rather than as a mechanism for transformation.

“For the supervisors in the government on neoliberal unity, led by the chief supervisor Ms. Helen Zille, the budget is the tool to fight political squabbles,” Maotwe said. 

“It is not a tool for transformation, redistribution, or to fight unemployment, poverty, and inequality. It is a compromise budget negotiated in smoke-filled bedrooms to keep a sinking coalition afloat.”

Maotwe criticised those within the GNU, especially the DA – now supporting the same budget they had opposed in previous years. 

“Principles have been sold for posts and blue lights. Economic logic has been sacrificed on the altar of convenience,” she said.

Maotwe said while the party is rejecting the bill, they made several constructive suggestions to amend it within the existing fiscal framework.

According to her, these included increasing the health budget to employ 9,000 unemployed doctors, boosting the education budget to eliminate pit toilets and teacher shortages, and allocating more funds to Statistics South Africa and the South African Revenue Service.

“Why are we not doing that? Why are we not closing the tax gap? Why are we not strengthening the state?” she asked.

She added, “We did not turn this budget into a political football. We engaged in a principled manner – and for that, we reject the 2025 Appropriation Bill.”

The DA has said it will vote in favor of the bill following the dismissal of Higher Education Minister Dr. Nobuhle Nkabane. 

The DA had threatened to block the bill unless President Cyril Ramaphosa acted on allegations that Nkabane misled Parliament about appointments to Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) boards.

Ramaphosa fired Nkabane this week and appointed Buti Manamela, one of her deputies, as minister of higher education and training. Former KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr. Nomusa Dube-Ncube was named deputy minister.

The DA said Ramaphosa acted under pressure from the party to ensure passage of the bill, which allocates funding to national departments.

The Appropriation Bill requires a simple majority, which is 201 out of 400 votes,  to pass in the National Assembly. 

The African National Congress (ANC) holds 159 seats, the DA 87, the MK Party 58, and the EFF 39. 

Both the EFF and MK have announced they will oppose the bill.

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

IOL Politics

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