After the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party, threatened to leave the government, claiming that a VAT hike would disproportionately harm the poor, Enoch Godongwana made his choice.
Godongwana, a member of the African National Congress (ANC), which is led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, had maintained that the hike was necessary since the government was in financial distress.
However, Ramaphosa and the ANC were forced to make concessions when other parties rejected the hike, increasing the likelihood that parliament would take the unusual step of voting down the national budget.
