uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) chief whip Mzwanele Manyi said South Africans should thank the party for reducing the African National Congress’ power in Parliament and helping to spark real opposition to the proposed VAT increase.
In an interview with SABC News, Manyi argued that without the MK Party’s impact in the 2024 elections, which pushed the ANC below a 50% majority, the VAT hike and other policies would have passed unchallenged.
“The MK Party must be thanked for the situation we have now, which is finally making progress,” said Manyi.
“Remember, when Cyril Ramaphosa took over in 2018, the very first thing he did was increase VAT from 14% to 15%. If the ANC still had its 62% majority, there wouldn’t be any debate about it today.”
According to Manyi, it’s only because of the MK Party’s presence in Parliament that the ANC has faced real opposition.
“If it wasn’t for us, none of this would be happening,” he said, claiming the ANC would have increased VAT to 17% without strong parliamentary resistance.
He also acknowledged the role of opposition parties like the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who went to court to challenge the VAT increase, but dismissed it as part of an ANC strategy.
“That court case was just a smokescreen to create a reason for the ANC to backtrack.”
Manyi then turned his criticism toward Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, calling for his removal over what he called a failure to manage the budget process and a collapse of public confidence.
“For the first time in South Africa’s history, the national budget was not properly tabled. If we had real leadership, Godongwana would have been fired on the spot,” he said.
“The economy is struggling, and this minister has many ideas but no direction. Why do we have someone like this in charge of our national finances?”
Manyi said the MK Party is using Section 92(2) of the Constitution, which provides for individual ministerial accountability, to target Godongwana specifically rather than the entire cabinet.
“We’re not an emotional party, we’re a rational party,” he said. “Section 92 allows us to hold individual ministers accountable, and that’s what we’re doing.”
While Section 102 of the Constitution provides for motions of no confidence in the president or the cabinet, Manyi argued that it must be interpreted alongside Section 92 to take action against individual ministers.
“When it comes to accountability, the Constitution gives Parliament broad powers to act,” he said.
Explaining why they brought the matter to Parliament rather than a committee, Manyi explained: “We wanted to make a bigger statement. You don’t ask the ANC to do the right thing, you compel them to do it.”
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