ANN CROTTY: Where are the champions of the poor?
There hasn’t been the traditionally raucous response from the big guns — Cosatu and the SACP, which we could always rely on to churn out righteous indignation at the drop of a hat
One has to ask what SA is coming to. Right now the DA appears to be the loudest opponent to what has been described as possibly the most regressive budget since 1994. The party is rallying its troops to fight the one percentage point increase in Vat announced by the minister of finance last week. It’s also opposing the hike in transport levies. "We will not support a regressive and anti-poor policy by the ANC and will be launching a national petition to say ‘no’ to Vat and transport levies," said DA leader Mmusi Maimane soon after Malusi Gigaba announced the first Vat increase in 25 years. There’s also been a commendable pushback from civil society, but there hasn’t been the traditionally raucous response from the big guns — Cosatu and the SACP, which we could always rely on to churn out righteous indignation at the drop of a hat. Within hours of the budget, parliamentary finance committee chairman Yunus Carrim was talking about a pushback; he said the increase wasn’t a done deal un...
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