South Africa’s coalition in peril after ANC passes budget without partner

Monica Mark and Rob Rose in Johannesburg and Joseph Cotterill in London

South Africa narrowly passed a budget framework on Wednesday without the support of the African National Congress’s biggest partner, leaving the country’s fragile coalition on the brink of falling apart.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party had to rely on smaller parties to vote for the critical measure after the centre-right Democratic Alliance rejected a rise in value added tax, exposing deep divisions in the ruling alliance.

Leaders in the DA told the Financial Times they feared the grand coalition — which was formed after the ANC lost its majority in May — was now “done and dusted”.

The ANC “simply refused to compromise”, DA leader John Steenhuisen said, with the parties clashing for weeks over issues including controversial bills on land ownership and an overhaul of the health sector.

In an hours-long vote, the DA rejected a 0.5 per cent VAT increase this year