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This morning the Democratic Alliance’s lawyers began argument in the Constitutional Court, for a final order of constitutional invalidity over sections of the VAT Act which allowed the Minister of Finance to set the VAT rat unilaterally.

I was present at Court, with DA Parliamentary Leader George Michalakis, and DA activists.

The DA won this same challenge in the Western Cape High Court months ago, and now the DA is asking the Constitutional Court to confirm that ruling by finally declaring Section 7(4) of the VAT Act unconstitutional.

The DA is in the Constitutional Court today to build on our victory where the DA stopped the 2% VAT hike last year. Through political and legal process, the DA succeeded in keeping down the cost of living increase that was touted in the Minister’s Budget Speech.

That victory belongs to all South Africans.

In the Constitutional Court today the DA argues that it is only Parliament as the elected representative legislature of the people which can determine taxations, and therefore to determine whether VAT increases or not.

A VAT increase affects every South African consumer, especially poor households already struggling to put food on the table. The DA cares very deeply about this, and we will always fight to keep down the cost of living.

Taxation is not a ministerial decision, and should not be made unilaterally. It is a decision that must be subject to proper democratic scrutiny by elected representatives in Parliament.

For South Africans already battling rising food prices and the cost of living, every tax increase matters, and the DA is on your side.

The DA will continue to defend Parliament’s constitutional authority and ensure that government cannot simply reach deeper into people’s pockets without proper parliamentary approval.

Only Parliament can change the law. Ministers must not be allowed to tax South Africans by decree.

Issued by DA National Spokesperson Jan de Villiers