JOINT STATEMENT Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana should be censured by the President

A joint statement by civil society organisations demanding the censure of South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. The organisations argue that the Minister used a press interview to mislead the public by claiming the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant caused budget constraints, thereby attempting to justify a VAT increase and bypass government policy. They propose alternative revenue-raising measures, such as wealth taxes and removing corporate tax incentives, to avoid harming the poor.

• The Finance Minister is accused of misleading the public by claiming a VAT increase was necessary because the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant required an unplanned budget allocation, despite the grant being included as a provisional allocation in the fiscal framework’s baseline for 2025/26.
• The document asserts that the Minister's comments in the Sunday Times on 9 March 2025 demonstrate a lack of regard for the democratic process and the Constitution, specifically by suggesting he should consult as few people as possible on the budget due to market sensitivity.
• Civil society organisations propose several fiscal alternatives to increasing VAT, including implementing a wealth tax, reversing the Corporate Income Tax rate cut from 27% to 28%, removing corporate tax incentives and retirement fund contribution rebates, and raising VAT specifically on luxury goods.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2025). JOINT STATEMENT Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana should be censured by the President. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Statement-Finance-Minister-should-be-censured.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. JOINT STATEMENT Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana should be censured by the President. 2025. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Statement-Finance-Minister-should-be-censured.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=JOINT STATEMENT Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana should be censured by the President |date=11 March 2025 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Statement-Finance-Minister-should-be-censured.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2025joint, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{JOINT STATEMENT Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana should be censured by the President}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Statement-Finance-Minister-should-be-censured.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }