KwaZulu-Natal 2025 budget re-tabled with no changes despite VAT increase withdrawal: Here's why
KwaZulu-Natal's 2025/26 Provincial Budget was officially re-tabled on Thursday by MEC for Finance Francois Rodgers following a national fiscal disruption caused by the withdrawal of the proposed VAT increase.
Despite this unexpected development at the national level, Rodgers confirmed that the province's fiscal framework remains entirely unchanged.
In his address to the Provincial Legislature, Rodgers reaffirmed the sequence of events that led to the re-tabling. The budget had initially been tabled on March 25, 2025, within the stipulated two-week window following the national budget announcement on March 12, as per Section 27.2 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
However, with the subsequent withdrawal of the Division of Revenue Bill and the Appropriation Bill on April 24, due to the removal of the VAT increase and a revised fiscal framework, Rodgers was compelled to withdraw the provincial budget and formally communicated this to the Legislature on May 7.
Rodgers said, 'Fortunately, as confirmed in a formal allocation letter to the Province by National Treasury, the withdrawal of the proposed VAT increase has had no impact on the Provincial Budget.'
He further highlighted that, 'There has been absolutely no change to the fiscal framework in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal because of the withdrawal of VAT. Our budget remains a total of R158.4 billion.'
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