Cape Town Mayor hails VAT hike opposition as a victory for the poor

19 February 2025

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has welcomed the postponement of the National Budget due to the DA’s opposition to the proposed 2% Value Added Tax (VAT) hike, hailing this as a victory especially for lower income households.

‘Lower income households in Cape Town – and nationally – cannot be burdened by a 2% VAT hike that will skyrocket the cost of food and other essentials.
 
‘There is more than enough waste and excess that can be cut in national government, and we are absolutely opposed to the Finance Minister’s proposed tax hike, which will hit the poorest hardest.
 
‘In the past, we would’ve seen this exploitative tax hike passed by a majority in parliament, but now South Africans are getting protection from a Government of National Unity (GNU) where power does not exclusively lie with the ruling party and its Finance Minister. We are very grateful that the budget has been postponed for this hike to be reviewed. May it never see the light of day,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
 
Mayor Hill-Lewis has further called for the budget to include more funding for cities to deliver well-located affordable housing, as President Ramaphosa promised in SONA.
 
The City of Cape Town is also opposed to any cuts to pro-poor grant-funding to provinces and municipalities, and is demanding that the metro gets its fair equitable share from the national fiscus based on updated census figures showing that Cape Town is about to overtake Johannesburg as SA’s most populous city of nearly five million residents.
 
 
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office