Just nine months after its formation, South Africa’s Government of National Unity appears on the brink of collapse following a bitter dispute over the 2025 national Budget.
Tensions exploded this week when Democratic Alliance ministers broke ranks and voted against the fiscal framework in Parliament. Though the Budget narrowly passed with 194 votes to 182, the political fallout has been swift and severe.
“You cannot be part of a government whose Budget you opposed,” declared Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya immediately after the vote. “We expect the DA to obviously reflect their participation or rather continued participation in the GNU having voted against the budget.”
The ANC parliamentary caucus has escalated the matter to the party’s National Executive Committee, which will meet in a special session Sunday to decide the DA’s fate in the coalition government.
According to sources close to the discussions, the NEC may direct President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove all six DA ministers from Cabinet, effectively ending the historic power-sharing arrangement formed after last year’s elections.
In a leaked audio recording, Ramaphosa reportedly told ANC MPs that the DA’s budget opposition would amount to “booting themselves out of the GNU.”
The DA controls six crucial ministries: Agriculture, Home Affairs, Education, Communications, Public Works, and Forestry, Fisheries and Environment. Party officials maintain they could not support a budget they believe will harm ordinary South Africans.
Meanwhile, the DA has launched legal proceedings challenging the budget’s passage, claiming it was pushed through Parliament without proper oversight. The EFF is reportedly also consulting legal counsel on similar grounds.
Smaller coalition partners who supported the budget, including ActionSA, GOOD, and the IFP, may be rewarded with expanded roles in a potential cabinet reshuffle, sources suggest.
Political analysts note that the GNU’s collapse would plunge South Africa into fresh political uncertainty just as the country attempts to address urgent economic challenges, including sluggish growth and high unemployment.
