The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) warns the working class: Do not deceive yourself! There is no fundamental difference between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) when it comes to economic policy. Whether it is GEAR, ASGISA, or the National Development Plan (NDP), both parties are united by a neoliberal macroeconomic framework that prioritizes market interests over the needs of the working class and poor.
This ideological convergence is clearest in their shared commitment to fiscal austerity, inflation targeting, and a regressive taxation regime that protects the rich while burdening the poor. When it comes to fiscal and monetary policy, the only real distinction is rhetorical—one may drape itself in liberation colours, and the other in blue—but both remain loyal to the dictates of capital and the interests of big business.
Let us be clear: the DA’s recent opposition to the proposed VAT increase is not evidence of a pro-poor awakening. It is motivated by its rejection of any wealth redistribution. The DA does not support increasing corporate tax. It opposes a wealth tax. It is silent on the billions lost through illicit financial flows, mispricing, and tax-dodging schemes by multinational corporations. Their primary concern is to defend the rich, not the poor.
The ANC’s alignment with this regressive agenda is the real betrayal. It is shameful that a party that once claimed the Freedom Charter now agrees that the poor must pay for their own development while the rich hoard obscene wealth. A VAT increase is a tax on survival. It punishes the unemployed, the working poor, and the marginalised who are already struggling under the weight of unemployment, food price inflation, and public service cuts.
Yes, the ANC still clings to certain progressive policy gestures—such as support for BELA and Expropriation Without Compensation. But let us not be fooled. These are fragments of a once transformative vision that has now been abandoned. The ANC has long since retreated from the Charter’s call for wealth sharing and a better life for all. Today, it governs not for the many, but for the few.
SAFTU says: Reject the VAT Increase—Tax the Rich!
There are alternatives. We demand:
• The immediate introduction of a wealth tax on the ultra-rich.
• A substantial increase in corporate income tax.
• The closure of tax loopholes and schemes used by corporations to avoid paying their fair share.
• Urgent measures to halt illicit financial outflows and corporate profit shifting.
• A progressive tax regime that ensures the rich pay far more than the poor.
• An increase in VAT on luxury goods—including imported luxury items that contribute to job creation abroad while deindustrialising our local economy.
Why must the poor pay more while the rich continue to enjoy tax holidays on their imported designer clothes, luxury cars, fine wines, and foreign electronics? Raising VAT on essential goods is a war against the working class. Raising VAT on luxury goods is common sense.
We reiterate: There can be no revolutionary action without revolutionary theory. The working class must see clearly that our struggle is not just against individual politicians, but against a system that reproduces inequality, unemployment, and hunger.
SAFTU calls on all progressive forces, unions, and working-class communities to rise in defence of economic justice. The time has come to build a united front to fight austerity, neoliberalism, and the capitalist looting of our future.
People Before Profits! Tax the Rich, Not the Poor!
An Alert issued on behalf of SAFTU by the General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.
For more details, contact the National Spokesperson at:
Newton Masuku
066 168 2157
