The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday opposed the 1% VAT hike and suggested it be scrapped.

DA Shadow Minister of Social Development Bridget Masango led the party’s attendance at the VAT public hearings, which were held in Parliament today before the Standing Committee on Finance.

The DA has said that the VAT hike was a veiled attempt by the Africa National Congress government to, effectively, make the poor pay for maladministration and corruption.

Masango said higher social grants, particularly child grants, were simply not enough to ease the effects of the VAT increase.

The DA said, while it welcomed the decision to review the zero-rated item list, the reality was that in the past the list was not always a true reflection of the items that the poor and vulnerable truly needed for sustenance.

Masango maintained that instead of increasing VAT, it was possible to cut the equivalent amount out of the bloated expenditure budget through interventions such as reducing the number of ministries to 15, freezing salaries and bonuses of senior public sector employees, selling Telkom shares and selling unused state assets.

The DA have consistently opposed the VAT hike and took the fight to the National Treasury in Tshwane where a memorandum was handed over to Treasury officials.